Truth or Dare
by Gemmortia
Summary: Muggle AU where shifters, fae and creatures are real but wizards and witches are not. Hermione goes to Remus's book shop in search of a book on werewolves for a project at school. She is then introduced to the world of magical creatures like you've never seen it before.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Hermione entered the worn old bookshop with the hopes of finding the book she had been wanting to read for the past month or so. She had a notorious habit of spending most of her money on books and her parents were always scolding her for it, though they still found it amusing. She walked through the doors and headed straight for the fiction section, not taking in the interior of the shop.

She was so focused on finding the book that she also didn't notice the handsome man at the counter staring right at the her, with something similar to awe on his face. She searched the fiction section for what felt like forever but in reality was only about ten minutes until her deep blue eyes found the book she was looking for. A smile lit up her soft face as she picked up the book, and just held it for a few seconds, reveling in the fact that she finally found it.

Her brown curly hair flaired around her head in a spectacular show as she turned to look at the man beside her. She hadn't even noticed him approaching , nor that he seemed to have spoken to her. When she saw who it was she froze in shock. The man was handsome, more than that really he was beautiful. He had a full jaw covered in stuble and peircing amber eyes that seemed to search her face and bare into her eyes as she stared at him.

He had curly sandy blonde hair that fell into his face and he was tall. Really tall, towering over her as he looked down at her. She wasn't short by any means, but next to him, she felt like a dwarf. He had broad shoulders that were filled out with muscle, though not too much that it made him seem hulkish. He had a kind smile and a mischeivous air about him that made him seem intruiging to Hermione as she smiled sheepishly at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said." She said and the man smiled at her amusement pulling his soft looking lips into a half smirk that made her insides melt at the sight. If her friends could see her now that would tease her forever. Especially Ginny.

"I asked you if you needed any assistance looking for a book." He said, his voice ran like silk across her skin and she had a hard time trying not to shiver as the sound reached her ears.

"I've found the one I was looking for, thank you." She said politely, falling back on her manners when other words evaded her mind.

"I can see that. You're clutching the book like you think it might disappear if you let go of it." He said as he tilted his head to the side in a decidedly canine way that made her bit her lip in an effort not to splutter out something along the lines of 'adorable'. Hermione had a tendency to talk without filtering her thoughts. She was blunt and honest and had trouble making new friends because of it. She had Ron, Harry and Ginny only because they had all been in the same class for their entire school careers and they had learned to not get offended.

"I've had a lot of trouble finding it is all. I've looked in every book shop in London and the surrounding towns but only now just found it." She said proudly and the man gave her an amused huff as he walked back over to the counter, ready to process her purchase.

"Well it's a good read. Worth the trouble I would say, although it doesn't end the way you woudl expect." He said and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him.

"You've read it then?" She asks curiously.

"You could say that." He said with a secret smile that would usually accompany an inside joke.

"That was a vauge answer." She said, not using the filter that Harry and Ron were trying to help her develop. Though their version of of help was actually to spout off the most ridiclous things they could possibly imagin and then wait ten seconds for an answer that wasn't the most imediate thought to enter her mind. It had failed spectacularly so far but proved to be a great way to fight the bordom that came with completeing their twelveth and final year of schooling.

"Indeed it was." The man said and he gave her an odd look that bordered on curiousity and something she couldn't put her finger on.

"How much is the book?" She asked after an moment of silence that was neither comfortable or uncomfortable.

"Can I ask you something?" He said suddenly and Hermione put the book on the counter as she stepped closer, finding that she wanted to spend more time in his presense.

"Technically you just did." She said with a wry smile.

"Ah, you're one of those people." He said almost as if to him self.

"One of the people who doesn't care for pointless questions?" She asked.

"I was going more with the 'no filter' line of thinking but that too I guess." He said and she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Do you mind the honesty or would you prefer that I lie to you?" She asked him.

"Depends on the lie I suppose." He said with a purse of him lips, contemplating the question seriously.

"I guess I could see it that way, although I find that I can't actually lie at all. I'm terrible at it." She said. He smirked at that.

"I'll have to remember that." He said, his eyes twinkling as he did so.

"What makes you think that you have a reason to remember a random fact about a person you will most likely never see again." She said somewhat confused.

"Well, my question from before was going to be 'what's your name?'" He said and she blushed slightly.

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." She said and his eyes lit up in recognision.

"The dentist's daughter?" He asked and she nodded shyly.

"It's not common knowledge, but ironically I have a dispicable sweet tooth." She said. he chuckled lightly as he picked up the book she was wanting to buy. He gazed at the cover for a moment before shaking his head with another laugh and scanned the bar code to determine the price.

"So why this book?" He asked her as he handed it over to her and then proceeded to press a couple of buttons on the computer.

"I'm doing a research project on werewolves, a hypothetical study as if they were real. For school." She said and he looked sceptical.

"Why on earth would you do that?" he asked.

"Because I find them fascinating creatures and the research project was an opportunity to get to explore the mythology and supernatural culture surrounding them." She said as she grabbed the book and slid it into her leather back pack.

"Well, if you ever need any help, I can be of assistance." He said, and Hermione looked at him quizzically for a moment before he elaborated.

"My name is Remus Lupin." He said with a sligth raised eyebrow, waiting for her reaction.

Hermione nodded as she narrowed her eyes at him for a minute trying to connect the dots from this handsome man to the pictures of the author she had seen on the internet. He looked different, more fit, healthy and younger even. She had to believe him though. Usually she could tell when someone was lying. Her gutt instincts about such things had never proven her wrong in all of her eighteen years of life so far.

"You look more alive than in your picture." She said after a while of studying him and making comparisons in her mind. He looked amused at her lack of reaction.

"I am." Was all he said in response before telling her the price of the book. Hermione handed over the money, exact change and then shuffled on her feet for a moment.

Hermione was intrigued by this man who seemed to hold so much knowledge and had a life before now that she wanted to know about. She found that she had so many questions she wanted to ask him about his life and his book, but she held her tongue.

"Thank you." She said to him and then turned to leave. She made it half way to the door before she felt a calloused hand grab hold of her arm, pulling her back to him.

"Come back, and tell me what you think of my book." He whispered into her ear and she felt the heat of his body that was almost but not quite pressed against her back. All she could do was nod in agreement. His unexpected proximity had her breath caught in her throat and temporarily incapable of speech.

Hermione could feel some kind of warmth around her, almost unbelievable as it raced around her veins and it stopped abrupty after Remus pulled away from her, cutting off the contact his hand had with my skin.

She turned back to look at him, wondering if he had felt it too. It seems he had, as his face was pale and he was starting at her with wide eyes that conveyed his shock.

"I...uh... I should go." Hermione stuttered out and then ran from the shop. As soon as the fresh crisp air hit her skin she was able to breath once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

She walked out of the main road of St Ottery Catchapold and in the direction of Ron's house. It was affectionately named the Burrow and Hermione uttery adored it. It was a big house, four stories, completely run down and leaning slightly to the side.

Mrs Weasley, Ron's mother, said that it was held up with love but Hermione jsut thought it was a matter of time before it fell down completely. It would take that long to fix it if it did though, considering the Weasleys were numerous and made up of mostly males. Ron was the youngest brother of six and the second youngest in there tight knit family. Ginny, oone of Hermione's best friends, was the youngest and only girl apart from Mrs Weasley.

The others were Bill, who was the eldest and worked as an archaeologist in Egypt, but was home for the holidays. Then there was Charlie who was a zoologist and worked mainly with lions and tigers. He worked at a big reserve type zoo in wales and was also staying at home for the holidays.

The third son was Percy. he had a job as an assistant to some important person in parliament, and the family hardly ever saw him, and he wasn't here at all. Hermione had never even met the man and she had been staying at the Burrow every holiday for the passed two years since her mother passed away and her father turned into somewhat of an alcoholic.

The fourth and fifth son's came as a package deal. They never went anywhere without each other. Fred and George were twins and completely insane. They caused trouble where ever they went and even managed to make a career out of it. They owned their own joke shops.

Hermione had only met Bill and Charlie once before, briefly at Mrs Weasley's birthday party last year. She had gone to school with the twins for years and was unfortunate enough to be the target of many a prank that they claimed was testing their merchandice for their imaginary shop. She looked back on those memories fondly now that she actually knew they were serious about what they had been doing. She only wished they hadn't targeted her so much.

She was looking forward to getting to know Bill and Charlie better, considering that she found their work to be fascinating. She loved history, it was her favourite subject and she was completely obsessed. Pair that, with an odd fixation on mythical creatures and it made for interesting conversation and even better projects.

Hermione had a habit of starting research projects, even if they weren't called for in school. She was always studying something whether it be the history of Hypogryffs or dragons and right now, werewolves.

Her mind was on werewolves as she walked down the battered trail that cut through the forest between the town and The Burrow, enjoying the wildness of the scenery as her thoughts drifted.

She had started this research project before school had started, just gathering information and sources. Then she was informed by the school that she was attending that the curiculum for year twelve now demanded each student undertake a research project. They shuffled around the time table to create three extra periods a week, added on to their already hectic schedules for them to spend on working on it.

She did ask if she could hand in one of her already completed research projects but her teacher, Mrs Mcgonnigal said that it had to be a newly created project.

She didn't mind as much as Ron and Harry did, she actually enjoyed studying and research but they had gone on and on about how unfair it was.

By the time she had gotten back to the Burrow, it was just getting dark. She opened the front door, far past the time where she had to knock and all but ran into a solid chest. She felt back onto her arse groaning in pain as he gathered her bareings.

"Shit I'm so sorry." Said a deep voice in front of her. Hermione looked up to see a red haired wall of muscle looking down at her with a sheepish smile.

"S'okay Charlie. Help me up would you?" She asked the second eldest Weasley child. He leaned down and grabbed her waist, lifting her clean of the ground and then setting her down on her now outstretched legs. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sheer strength he exuded. She wasn't the skinniest woman around, infact she had been called fat a time or two. She didn't particuarlly care about it but Charlie seemed not to have a problem with her weight.

Hermione couldn't help but stare at him in awe. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he looked at her. 'At least he doesn't tower over me like Remus had.' She thought, and then a blush crossed over her face as she compared the two beautiful men to each other.

"Sorry about that. Mum had just sent me out to look for you actually. Didn't want you walking around alone in the dark, especially in the woods." He said as he moved aside, letting her walk properly into the room.

He closed the door behind her and then followed her as she made her way into the kitchen. The Burrow was all light wood and soft colours, orange being a main one. The kitchen was bright with the sunset clear in the windows that sat over the bench that Mrs Weasley was bustling about over.

Hermione turned to the left, to see the big table that sat in the room, was almost full of people. Ron and Ginny were at the end of the table, talking about football, and Bill was listening in with amusement. Fred and George had their heads together, obviously planning some kind of prank or another, and Mr Weasley was reading the paper at the head of the table.

Charlie put his hands on her shoulders to guide her out of the door way so that he could get passed and go and help his mother with the cooking. She smiled shyly up at him and then turned back to the table and sat down next to Ginny.

"What time is Harry getting here again Ron?" Gin asked and Hermione turned to the red head, her interest piqued.

"Harry's coming over?" She asked, almost relieved to hear it. His aunt and uncle were horrible to him, and usually whenever he saw them he was sporting some kind of bruise or injury.

"Yeah, his rental's agreed to let him live here during the school year, so that he could study with me or something. I'm not too sure on the excuse he used but they were happy to get rid of him. He'll be bunking with me." Ron said with excitement.

"Thank god. From what Ron's told me, that family is seriously abusive." Bill said and Hermione nodded in affirmation.

"They're terrible. I nearly had to call the police once last year but Harry insisted that I didn't. Something about how his aunt looks so much liek his mother, made him want to stay. I glad he's finally seen sense though." Hermione said and Bill gave her a soft smile.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

"Help!" A distinctly male voice said at the door and Hermione was up in an instant, running out of the room and towards the sound. She got to the door to see Harry leaning up against the frame, his face bruised, his right eye swollen and holding his wrist carefully as if it were broken. It probably was.

"Harry! What happened to you?" Hermione asked as she rushed towards him, carefully guiding him over to the couch in the sitting room. He groaned as he sat down and she called out for Mrs Weasley. The others had all gathered in the door way. The men al looked furious, and Ginny was so mad that their were tears in her eyes.

"Oh dear. I'll just go and get the medical kit then shall I?" Mrs Weasley said and then started ordering every one about. Hermione stayed on the couch next to Harry, checking him over for more injuries. She pushed back his hair from his face and noticed a cut on his forehead as if he fell over and hit it on something. His arm was in fact broken and his ribs were also bruised.

"Harry." She said as tears threatened to spill over. He smiled slightly, and took her hand in his.

"I'll be okay 'Mione. They told me not to come back. I'm free now." He said and she pulled him into a careful hug, minding his injuries.

"Are they together?" Asked Charlie as Hermione stood up to let Mrs Weasley through to help Harry. She turned to the man in question and raised an eyebrow. Both Bill and Charlie smiled sheepishly at her, now that everyone had seen that Harry wasn't going to die or need to go to hospital, they had calmed somewhat.

"No, we're not. Why do you want to know?" Hermione asked walking past the hulkish man and into the kitchen to sit down once more. Ginny had claimed the set next to Harry, as they had been dancing around their mutual attraction for a year now.

Charlie followed her as did Bill. Both of the boys didn't sit though, they continued with the cooking that was still in the stove as it had been abandoned in all the hype o Harry arriving in his battered state.

"Just curious is all." Charlie said and that made Bill smirk.

"We're like brother and sister." Hermione said, affronted. The thought of being with Harry that way was unapealing. She thought of Harry like Ginny thought about the two men standing in front of her. Siblings. The thought of kissing him made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Right then. 'Mione can you help us with the plates?" Bill asked and I nodded, taking all the dishes into the living room where Harry was. He didn't look up to moving just yet and was sure to be hungry. The Dursley's didn't feed him half as much as they should have.

All the food was piled onto the coffee table and plates were passed out to everyone and they ate in silence only speaking every now and then to ask someone to pass something. Ginny was waiting on Harry, getting his food for him and asking him if he needed anything more.

Hermione was sitting on the edge of the love seat in the corner of the room, it being the only seat left available when she came back into the room with apitcher of water and some glasses. The seat was much to small for her and a big man like Charlie. No one seemed to notice now uncomfortable she was sitting so close to him.

He was nice she supposed, but too buff for her liking. The idea that the only thing repelling her from him was his muscle was somewhat bothering to her. He was intelligent, and kind and he loved animals, just as she did. Why shouldn't she like him? she thought to her self as she picked at the food in her lap.

The man in question shifted beside her, placing his empty plate on the floor beside the seat they were on and then stretched, placing his arm around the back of said seat. The heat from his arm radiated out and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She sat forward a little more in her seat, not wanting to accidently touch his arm.

She didn't really understand her aversion to Charlie, she had found him attractive when she last met him. She even gushed about how hot he was to Ron's girlfriend Lavender for about ten minutes. But now, she couldn't bring herself to even look at him in those terms. It was odd. She hadn't had these problems when she greated Bill yesterday. She distinctly remembered blushing when he bent down and kissed her hand teasingly.

Hermione looked over to the eldest Weasley. She took in his features his chest length red hair that was tied up with a leather band at the base of his neck, his fang earing that hung from his right ear, his charming smile and scar that ran across the left side of his freckled face. Yesterday she had found him attractive too. But now she felt nothing.

'Maybe Harry's claims of my being emotionally stunted are actually true.' She thought to herself as Charlie shifted closer to her, his thigh pressing against her own.

A flash of Remus Lupin, the shop keeper that she had met earlier that day appeared in her mind, his thigh touching hers, his arm wrapped around the back fo her seat and her heart fluttered, as he cheeks tinged pink.

Hermione stood and fled from the room, unable to stay sitting next to Charlie and imagin he was another man. She practically ran into the kitchen and placed her plate down in the sink. She grabbed the counter to keep herself upright as she steadied her breathing. Just the thought of Remus had her in a state.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Asked a voice from behind her. She took a deep breath to steel herself and then turned around to see Charlie standing in the door way, leaning against the frame that he practically filled up. She leaned back onto the counter and just looked at him, unable to place what had changed. She narrowed her eyes as she studied him.

She took in every detail of him. His curly shoulder length red hair, his scars that covered his arms and no doubt if she looked, his chest too. He was wearing black jeans and a shirt that fit snugly around his arms and chest. You could see the hint of a tattoo at the collar od the shirt that was open one too many buttons to be appropriate.

"Hermione?" He asked again as he ran a nervous had through his hair. She blinked and looked up into his chocolate brown eyes.

"Charlie can you do me a favour?" She asked him, pushing of the bench and walking over ot him. She was unsire why she was asking him this, but determined to know if it went as far as what she theorised.

"Sure, what can I do?" He asked agreeing before knowing what she was going to ask of him. She took another couple of steps, until she was almost touching him. He raised an eyebrow at her proximity.

"I want to test something. Can you kiss me?" I asked him and an amused smirk crawled onto his face. He stood up straight and moved his hands up to cup her face, bringing his closer. He brushed his lips over hers ligthly, teasingly, and she felt nothing. Not one little thing.

She had expected her first kiss to be more than what it was as he pressed his lips to hers tentatively. She moved hers in time with his lips, and they deepened the kiss. Hermione closed her eyes and let the sensations wash over her, not that there was much to expirence.

It was nice, he certainly was an excellent kisser, but it had no spark. It didn't instill a fire with in her that begged for more than what it was. She had no desire for more. When Charlie swept his tongue along her lower lip, she gasped in surprise, not expecting him to go that far with her. But then again,she did ask him to kiss her and what did she really expect him to do, peck her on the cheek?

His tongue darted into her mouth, caressing her own and she found that she enjoyed the sensation. She flicked her own in response and their bodies drew closer as Charlies hands left her face to trail down her body as she moved hers around his neck.

An image of Remus worked it's way into the forefront of her mind and a spark of heat flooded her body, making her moan into his lips. His hands found their way down to her arse and squeezed teasingly and it broke her out of her trance.

She froze. For a moment she had imagined that he was Remus. But it wasn't him at all it was Charlie. Ron's older brother for god's sake. She pulled back and disentangleed them from each other as she backed away from him. The back of her legs found the table and she leaned against it as she tried to catch her breath.

Charlie had lent on the door frame once more and she could feel his searching eyes on her, trying to figure out what the hell she had been thinking.

"Sorry." Was all she could get out. This caused the man to laugh.

"No need to appologise. It's not like I'm one to refuse a beautiful woman when she asks for a kiss." He said. Hermione looked up at him to see that he was smiling kindly at her.

"So was it as you expected?" He asked and she sighed.

"No actually. It was more than that, but it was less too if you know what I mean." She said, trying to say what she meant eloquently but failing miserably.

"It was lacking a spark you mean?" He said with an amused smile. Hermione nodded shyly.

"Not every kiss you have will have a spark, Love. I'm honoured that you chose me to be your first though." He said with a wink as he walked into the room and over to the sink to get a glass of water.

"It was more of a spontanious thing really. Though it probably would have been you if I thouht about it anyway." She said and Charlie chuckled again.

"Good to know. Well if you even find yourself wanting to know even more, I don't mind being accousted in the hallways or pushed into broom cupboards." He said with another wink as he placed his glass in the sink and then left the room.

"Well that was one of the most idiotic things I've ever done." Hermione said to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Just a warning, their is mention of suicide and graphic images in this chapter, skip over it if need be.

CHAPTER FOUR

The rest of the holidays went by faster than Hermione wanted them to. Harry got much better and Bill and Charlie went over to his house to collect his things, as the Dursleys wouldn't allow him to take anything when they kicked him out two weeks ago. Hermione had enjoyed her time at the Burrow, and wished she too could stay indeffinantly but her father was expecting her home after dinner tonight.

The incident with Charlie stayed a one time occurance though he did wink at her and tease her about it when they were alone together. The days were filled with laughter and happiness and she couldn't have asked for anything more.

In her bliss, Hermione had forgotten all about her encounter with one Remus Lupin. She had read the book he had written about werewolves, and it had helped a lot with her research. It was written as if the creature was real, from the point of view of a real wolf. It was a fascinating point of view, one that she hadn't expected to find. However she did find some of the things that the wolf claimed to be true, as not matching up with any of her other information.

The fact that the wolf craves sugar before thhe transformation was something she hadn't come across before. She also hadn't come across the idea that werewolves were only agressive when it came to contact with humans therefore making contact with animals possible, though it's doubtful that a creature of their power and size would make friends with another animal.

There was also a detailed description of the transformation itself. It described the excrusiating pain as if it was a first hand exprience, told how each bone broke to reform that of a wolf's and how the skin ripped and then bound back together to accomodate the change in bone structure. It was gruesome and exactly what she was looking for.

Maybe she could interview the author as if he were a real wolf, and use that in her research project as well. She was, after all, pretending that the creatures were real for the purposes of the project.

Suddenly she remembered who exactly the author was, and a blush crept over her cheeks. She stood up from the desk in the corner of the sitting room, closing her note books and gathering all of her information on her project and packed it into her shoulder bag, intent on going to see Remus to ask if he would be interested in doing a mock interview for her project.

She was excited to see him again, remebering the feeling of his hand on her skin and the effect it had on her.

She looked to the clock to see that it was already eight o'clokc at night. There goes her plan to see him. She made up her mind to do it tomorrow after school instead. Charlie was meant to drop her off at home sometime soon, so she went up to Ginny's room, as they had been sharing these passed weeks and knocked on the door before opening it.

The sight Hermione was greated with was shocking and she immediately closed her eyes and turned around, running back out of the room and shutting the door. Her best friends were having sex, on the the bed she had been sleeping in for the last three weeks. She felt a little queazy.

Just as she was about to run to the bathroom, Charlie called to her from his room.

"Hermione, Ginny already packed your stuff and left it outside the door, it's in te car already. I'll be five minutes and then we can go alright?" He asked popping his head out of the door for the last question. His easy smile fell off his face when he saw her pale, sickly looking face. He came out of his room and walked towards her, lifting her chin so that she was looking him in the eyes, and palcing his other hand on her forehead, to see it she had a fever.

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken." Hermione said with a shaky voice. Charlie wrapped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly to his chest.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. What happened?" He whispered into her ear. She was quiet for a moment and then their was a loud moan from Ginny's room and Charlie's chest rumbled with laughter.

"You walked in on them didn't you?" He asked her, his tone turned from concerned to teasing as he released her from his embrase. She blushed and refused to meet his eyes. She noticed for the first time that he wasn't wearing a shirt and bit her lip as she took in the sight of his toned chest. Just because she wasn't attracted to him anymore didn't mean she couldn't appreciate his form. And what a fine form it was.

Hermione tore her eyes away from his tan, abs and looked him in the eyes. He was trying to hold back his laughter.

"They're not even dating. I can't believe... God they could have put a sock on the door or warned me or something." She said, angry at them now. She was an innocent, a virgin and her first taste of sex was witnessing her best friend puonding into her other best friend. The image was burned into her brain and she couldn't make it leave.

"Come on, lets leave before they get to the good part." He said with a wink, grabbing my hand and draging me into his room. I looked around to see that it was bare, apart from a chest of draws and a large queen sized bed. Charlie's cuit case was open on the floor in the corner and he went over to it, letting her hand go and pulled out a shirt to wear with his jeans.

Now that Hermione had a good look at his back, she smiled when she saw the tattoo that curled over his skin. It was a large dragon, a horntail if she remembered correctly from her studies. It was beautiful and before she could stop herself, she was walking across the room and her fingers were trailing along the tail of the intricately designed tattoo.

Charlie stilled under her fingers and stood up straight. She noticed that his skin was soft to the touch and covered in so many freckles that it comes across as a tan.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" He asked her, breaking her out of her trance and she blushed as she stepped away from him.

"I was... your tattoo is beautiful." She said sheepishly as he turned around to face her, his face conflicted.

"Thanks. I got it in Romania actually. It's a-"

"Horntail." They said in unison. Charlie gave her a smirk as he pulled a tshirt on over his head.

"I didn't know that you knew anything about dragons." He said as he sat down on the side of his bed, pulling on his socks and shoes.

"They're fascinating creatures. I researched them a while back." Hermione said as she watched him move about the room. He grabbed hiw wallet from the dresser and put it in his back pocket and then grabbed his keys as well.

"Are you ready to go? Got everything?" He asked a mischeivous smile forming on his face.

"I have everything. And even if I didn't, I don't think I want to go back and get it." Hermione said with a grimace.

"Maybe I should go and check for you." He said as they left his room and walked downt he hall towards the stairs.

"And see your baby sister naked riding my best friend?" She countered and Charlie's face twisted into a disgusted look and a frown.

"At least that means it was her idea and not his." Hermione said and Charlie looked down at her in curiosity.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY SISTER?" voice Hermione knew to belong to Ron yelled as she and Charlie came to the door to see Ron standing in the door way, fury written on his face.

"Ron, calm down. You don't want Mum to find out about it. Harry would be homeless if that happened." Charlie said reasonably.

"Fine! But don't think that this is over. I want answers." He said and then stormed out of the room and down the stairs.

"Harry, Ginny I suggest you put on some clothes and go down stairs. I'll be wanting to talk to you when I get back." Charlie said curtly and Hermione saw Harry flinch.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow you two." She said and then walked down stairs to Ron.

"They love each other Ron. It was bound to happen sometime." Hermione said to him, hugged him briefly and then said goodbye. She had already said her thanks and goodbye's to Mrs Weasly earlier in the day so she went out to stand by Charlie's car to wait for him.

He came out a minute later, and unlocked the car and they got in. There was silence for about five minutes before Charlie spoke again.

"That wasn't a one time thing was it 'Mione?" Charlie asked and Hermione turned to look at him. His hand were clenching the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white and he had a strained look on his face.

"No. Harry and Ginny have been wanting each other for years. And it's not like that was their first time havign sex." She said and he went even more pale.

"That's not what I- I wasn't talkin- wait, Ginny's...?" He said hopelessly, and with confusion.

"I shouldn't have said that. Ginny swore me to secrecy on that. Please forget I said that." She said, and Charlie smiled a small smile at her.

"Wait, what did you mean then?" Hermione asked and Charlie looked over at her for a moment before looking back at the road. They were about a mile away from her house.

"I meant that kiss we shared. It didn't mean anything to you, really. Did it? You said you were testing something." He said and she took a deep breath. She had no idea what was going on in that regard.

"I- I don't really know Charlie. I mean sure, it was a good kiss, but the only thing I wanted was to know what it felt like to kiss someone. I didn't really think about the who when I attacked you in the kitchen." She said quietly and he huffed in annoyance.

"Well it meant something to me. I just wanted you to know that. I've found that i care about you more than i thought I would." He said and she blushed slightly. She never really thought that anyone woud be interested in her, didn't find herself all that attractive nor appealing in that sense. It was flattering to know that someone did like her in that way, especially when it was someone like Charlie.

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me. But I just don't feel the same way." She said and he pulled up in front of her house. Hermione looked out the window of the car to see that all the lights were off so her father was probably asleep. Or passed out drunk.

"Why?" He asked simply, turning to face her, meeting her eyes.

"I- I don't really know actually. The first time I met you I liked you like that, found you attractive but now... there's something wrong with me. I don't find anyone attractive or want anyone sexually. It's confusing." She said and Charlie raised an eyebrow, curious and also concerned.

"When did that start happening?" He asked.

"That day I ran into you in the door way and fell on my arse." She said and he half smiled at the memory.

"Well if you ever figure out what you want, you know where to find me." He said and then got out of the car. Hermionehopped out too and they carried her suit case and bag up to the door. She unlocked it and ushered him inside, and pointed him in the direction of her bedroom as she turned on the lights. She followed him into her bedroom and placed her bags down at the foot of her bed.

Charlie looked arouns the room and smiled when he saw the overflowing book shelf.

"So this is your room." He said with a charming smile.

"It is indeed. You can look around if you like. I'm just going to check on my father." She said and he nodded as she left the room.

Hermione walked down the hallway towards her parents room and paused outside the door. She didn't really want to see he father, especially if he was passed out in his own vomit again. She steeled herself and pushed open the door only to find that her father was lying in a pool of his own blood rather than vomit.

She just stood in the door way, staring at the cold corpse of her father, unable to move. He had killed himself, left her all alone in the world. She had no other relatives that she knew of so now she was all alone. He was gone, along with her mother. There was so much blood covering the sheets.

It waas about five minutes before she found herself again. She backed out of the room and closed the door once again, making her way into the kitchen and to the phone. She called the ambulance and told them what they wanted to know and then replaced the phone on the receiver.

"Charlie." She yelled out to him and he came running into the room, straight to her as she collapsed to the ground.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He asked, unsure what had happeded.

"He, the blood, there was so much blood. Dead, called ambulance." She said as tears streamed down her face. She clung to him as she cried, unsure what she was going to do now. Both of her parents were dead.

"Shh...shh... I've got you. You'll be okay. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." Charlie whispered to me as I shook in his arms. Soon the ambulance arrived and Charlie called them inside. He directed them down the hall but didn't move from my side.

They took away the body and the police men that showed up moments later, took statements from them and the neighbours just to be thorough.

"How old are you Miss?" The detective asked Hermione as Charlie busied himself making tea for her.

"Eighteen." She heard herself say.

"Right, so because you're legally an adult, we don't have to put you into foster care. Can you saty with your boyfriend while we get this all sorted out and cleaned up?" He asked and she sat there stunned. Unsure what to say.

"She can stay with me Sir." Charlie said, his voice comforting and strong behind her.

"Good. I'll need to take down your address and phone number, so that we can contact you and Miss Granger here regarding the case and the will as well." He said.

We left soon after that, Charlie gathering me some fresh clothing and taking my bags out to the car as I finished off my tea.

While he was outside, he made a phone call to his mother, telling her what had happened.

"She's in shock right now I suspect... I'm bringing her back home now... No, she's inside having a cup of tea...Tell them, but make sure they're not there when we get home, I don't think she can deal with everyone asking her questions all at once... Okay I'll see you soon."

"Hermione?" He asked as he came back inside.

"Mmm?" I responded, looking up from my tea.

"We're going to go back to the burrow now, is that okay?" He asked and all she could do was nod.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Hermione woke to the sound of rustling around and the light streaming through the windows. She cracked her eyes open to see that she wasn't in Ginny's bedroom like she expected to be, but another room of the burrow. There was another rustle of bed sheets and then an arm wrapped around her waist and a head nuzzled into her neck.

She breathed deeply, remembering her begging Charlie not to leave her alone last night. He had agreed to stay and she had coaxed him into sharing her bed, to sleep. She hugged his arm to her chest, snuggling down into the covers and back into his strong body, feeling protected and safe and warm.

She wriggled her arse, trying to get comfortable when she felt something hard pressing into her backside. She froze in place, as he pulled her closer to him in his sleep, so that his hard cock was pressing hard into the crevice of her arse and she felt really uncomfortable with this.

If it was before her odd asexual awakening, she would have welcomed the physical presence of his body that was actively responding to her. But now she felt a shiver run up her spine in an unpleasant way, as if her very being was repulsed by the idea of being with him so intimately.

"Charlie." She whispered, trying to wake him but failed. She then tried to moved out of his arms, to escape the awkwardness that was this situation but he just held her tighter than before, so that there was no hope of escape. Her breathing started to quicken as her panic set in.

She sat there, in his arms and waited until he woke up and he did so slowly. He was disorientated so when he felt a body pressed against his in a provocative manner he kissed the flesh he felt against is lips, instinctively grinding his hips into theirs. Hermione squeaked and Charlie opened his eyes to see that she looked horrified and he was taking advantage of her.

His arms loosened their hold on her body and she jumped out of the bed, backing away from him until she hit the door, biting her lip nervously.

"Oh god, I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to... do that... I-"

"It's okay Charlie. You did tell me that you liked me that way. What should I have expected?" She asked him, her voice tired and worn out.

"I'm sorry, I should have realised that it was you and... oh god I feel like a pervert, taking advantage of you like that." He said as he sat up, so that Hermione had a nice view of his bare chest.

"Don't worry about it Char. I find it flattering that you respond to my that way. No body else had ever really shown any interest in me before, so for someone like you to... want me like that is a great boost for my ego." She said with a smile and Charlie sighed in relief.

"How are you this morning?" He asked her and a frown crossed her face.

"I'm angry," She said, "He just up and left me here all alone with no one. I have no one left now. He was selfish and I'm really really angry at him for abandoning me like this." She said and Charlie got out of bed to hug her. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he kissed the top of her head comfortingly.

"You're not alone Hermione. You have me, us. You'll always be apart of the Weasley family. I'm sure you'll be calling Molly Mum in no time at all." He said with a crooked smile.

"Why can't I just love you?" She asked him suddenly.

"What?' He squeaked out, confused.

"It would be so much more simple." She said as if it explained everything, when really it made everything more confusing. Hermione had an unexplainable urge to see Remus. She wanted him to hold her, to comfort her but he wasn't here. She had only met him once for gods sake. It was too complicated, too confusion and she wished that Charlie made her feel that way instead.

"I need a shower." She said and then turned around and left the room, walking down the hall, grabbing a towel from the hall closet before heading into the bathroom. She opened and then closed the door and locked it behind her before turning to the shower only to find it already occupied.

"Hermione, how are you this morning?" A very naked Bill asked her. She just stared at him in shock, taking in his bare form. He had broad shoulders, a lot like Charlie did, but his muscle was a lot more subtle. He was all long limps and wiry muscle that covered every inch of his body. He had a tattoo, some Egyptian hieroglyphic on his hip and she just stared at him, her face going a nice shade of red.

"I was just about to get out so you're welcome to use the shower." He said and then he grabbed his towel, drying himself off and then wrapping it around his waist completely at ease as her eyes roved over him. She bit her lip when she saw his penis, long and thick hanging in between his legs.

She wondered what it would feel like touch and looked away with a deeper blush staining her usually pale cheeks as he covered himself with his towel. She wondered how the sight of his body could affect her like this, when she wasn't attracted to him like that but then an image of Remus, who had the same type of build as Bill did, flashed into her mind and she took a shaky breath. That was why. It was Remus.

"Have a nice shower love." He said with a wink and then unlocked the door and strode out of the room. She stood there for a moment, wondering what had just happened before she shook her head and locked the door once more, before getting undressed and then into the shower.

She got dressed afterwards in Charlie's room, as he had disappeared and then went down to have some breakfast.

As Hermione entered the kitchen , there was silence. No one knew how to address her, not wanting to upset her.

"Good morning everyone." Hermione said causing Fred and George to snort in amusement at the irony of her statement. She gave them a small smile and they returned it.

"Bill, nice to see you put on some clothing." She said and he winked at her, causing everyone to look between the two with interest and confusion.

"Not my fault you walked into the bathroom with out knocking sweetheart." He said.

"Not my fault that you didn't lock it in the first place." Hermione replied and he raised an eyebrow.

"Touché`." He said and she smiled. She didn't really know how she was still capable of smiling. She had lost two parents in as many years. One to cancer, and the other to himself and she was slightly broken. She knew that they were together now, and that she would see them again some day but she could help but be angry that they died now, right when she was about to start living her life. They would be there to see her do anything. They wouldn't see her graduate, or fall in love or fall apart like she was doing now. She only hoped that these kind and lovely people would be good enough to pick up her pieces and put her back together.

"Hermione. I'm so sorry for your loss. I want you to know that I think of you as a daughter and you are welcome to live here for as long as you need to." Mrs Weasley said as she sat down in between Charlie and Harry, who both put hand on her legs to give her silent support.

"I appreciate that Mrs Weasley. Thank you." She said and then everyone went about getting their food and talking quietly.

"You need anything?" Harry said, leaning in to rest his forehead on her temple. Hermione smiled slightly at the gesture. They had been that closer after their first year together in first grade. He saved her from a bully who was picking on her and they had been friends ever since. He had put up with her bluntness and her preference for solitude and she loved as he was her own blood.

"Just you, this." She said as she took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Of course." He said.

"So you and Ginny..." She said with a small smile as she nibbled on some bacon.

"I'm sorry about that by the way. You walking in on us I mean. We left your stuff outside the door so you wouldn't come in but I guess Charlie thought he was being chivalrous or something." He said as he blushed a bit.

"So you're together now?" She asked him and he nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Good. If you weren't I'm sure that Charlie would have killed you. Ron too." She said and he choked on his orange juice.

"Yeah, Charlie sat us down after you'd gone to sleep and talked to us about being responsible and using protection and such. He said that he didn't think I would have gotten 'the talk' from the Dursley's and in the Weasley family it was tradition for older brothers to have 'the talk' with their younger brothers. Although, Bill and Charlie talked to Ginny after Ron's hilarious botched attempted a couple of months ago. You know, when she promptly informed him that she wasn't a virgin and he could thank Dean for that." Harry said, babbling alone in a whisper so that no one else could hear them.

"Oh god. That's how he found out about it?" Hermione said with a small laugh. It felt good to laugh' she thought to herself.

"Hermione dear, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mrs Weasley asked and she nodded, standing up and smiling at Harry as she walked into the sitting room with Mrs Weasley.

As soon as the door closed, she was gathered up in an enormous hug that Mrs Weasley was famous for. Hermione hugged her back, smiling slightly when she realised that Mrs Weasley wore the same perfume as her mother used to.

"Oh dearie, I just talked to the school and they agreed to let you have another week off while we sort some things out." She said as she pulled back to look at her. Hermione smiled weakly at her as tears fell over her eyes. Mrs Weasley wiped them away with her thumb and kissed her forehead affectionately.

"I have a few things to ask you dear. Your father's solicitor called as well, about the will. They left everything they had to you. You've inherited their house, their villa in France, the dentist practice and quite a bit of money as well. I hope you don't mind but I had them email me a copy of the will." She said.

"That's fine. I'm don't really know how to handle all that stuff anyway. I'd rather someone I trust to help me." Hermione said.

"I just wanted to let you know that it was there. We can discuss what you want to do with it all later, even after you finish school if you'd like. But there is one thing we have to do now." She said and Hermione nodded.

"We have to plan the funeral. I know that you're probably hurting right now, and I would like to offer to take care of it for you. Your father had funeral insurance so money isn't a problem. I just don't want you to take on anything you can't handle at the moment." She said and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Could you? I don't think I could go through that." She asked and Mrs Weasley accepted.

"Don't you worry about a thing dear. I'll take care of everything. I'll take care of you." She said and Hermione nodded. All she could do was nod.

* * *

I know it's odd to put the scene with Charlie paired with walking in on Bill, but I wanted to make it so that she was clearly living in a big house hold, and one that doesn't much care for boundaries. This will be more clear later on...


	6. Chapter 6

This one's a bit longer than usual and fast paced. I wanted to skip the awkward get to know you faze and kind of hashed it all out in this chapter. After this they'll be way more familiar with each other. Which will inevitably lead so s smutty chapter at some point. xx Gemmortia

* * *

CHAPTER SIX

The day was cold and rainy. Hermione thought that it reflected how she felt perfectly, even if it was a bit cliche. She walked along side the coffin that contained her last remaining relative. She was dressed in a black dress that came down to her knees, and black stockings. She had a lily in her hair, as it was her fathers favourite flower and their were tears running down her face.

Harry was beside her, holding her hand as they buried him into the ground. Charlie wrapped an arm around her shoulders as people came up to her and gave her their condolences. Ginny held her as she cried, trying to fall asleep. Ron woke her up for breakfast the next morning and she walked into the kitchen to see all the left overs from the day before. Everyone who knew my father, and that was a lot of people, had come to the wake after the funeral, and brought some kind of food along with them .

She ate in silence, filling herself full of food so that she wouldn't get hungry and then went back to bed. It had been the same routien for the past week. She was tired, so tired of everything.

She was asleep. Someone came into her room and opened her curtains, the midday sunlight streaming in through the windows and waking the grieving girl from her restless sleep.

"Get up my lovely Hermione. We're going out for lunch and then shopping. I won't take no for an answer." Hermione heard Ginny say in an obnoxiously loud voice. She groaned and did as she was told, knowing that when it came to Ginny she always got what she wanted.

"Fine." Was her response as she slipped out of her bed and got dressed into black skinny jeans and a red patterned top along with a cardigan. She pulled on her cherry red doc martain over thick fluffy socks and then followed Ginny out of the room she had been hiding in for the passed six days and out into the world.

They walked out into the warm sunday air and allowed it to warm them up as they strolled along the path in the woods and into the town center. They walked around for a while, window shopping and buying various items that they needed or didn't need at all and then stopped at the leaky coldren for lunch were they met up with Bill, Charlie, Fred and George.

"I'm going home now. Bill tells me that Ron went over to Lavenders for a while so I'll get to spend some quality time with Harry." Ginny said with a wink as she left me with her brothers. They all had various things to do as well. Fred and George invited her back to their shop to spend some time with them, and Bill and Charlie asked if she wanted to help them pick out some flowers for their mum as it was her birthday soon.

Hermione declined, instead choosing to make her way through all the shops she had yet to venture into and enjoy the sun. Soon, she found herself brousing the shelves of a book shop. She wasn't really looking for anything in particular so when someone made their way over towards her she looked up to see Remus staring down at her with a frown on his face.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice laced with concern and Hermione found that she was compelled to tell him exactly what had happened to her. She shook the thought away as she looked up at him with confusion. How did he know that something had happened in the first place, she asked herself, and what right did he think he had to know what it was?' They had only met once before after all.

"Sorry, that was forward of me, it's just that you look troubled." He amended, and she felt herself move closer to him, unable to resist the comforting smell of him. He smelt of chocolate and chai and freshly mowed grass.

"My father died a week ago actually." She said and his face looked just about as pained as she felt when she thought about it.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." He said and it was probably the only thing he could say.

"Yeah, me too." She said. They stood in silence for a moment before he spoke again.

"Did you finish the book?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, couldn't put it down actually. I finished it in about three days. It was really interesting." She replied and he smiled slightly.

"Good. That was the intension after all, an interesting read." He said.

"How did you come up with the idea to write if from the wolf's point of view? I thought that was inspired." She said as she went back to looking at the books on the shelves, running her fingers over the spines as she went. He followed her.

"It came to me one night. I couldn't sleep and it was a full moon. I had always been curious about them and thought why not?" He said with that secret smile again.

"It gave me an idea actually, for my research project. Since I'm acting as if werewolves are real and going about the project as I would if I were researching an actual wolf, say, I thought that, since the werewolf is meant to be a person most of the time, getting the perspective of said person would be an interesting additive. I was wondering if you'd be willing to sit through a mock interview, answering questions from a werewolf's point of veiw just as you wrote the book." She asked, turning back to see that he was looking rather sceptical.

"I know it's a bit silly but it would give me an edge with the work, it may even get published. I'd be sure to mention you and your book of course, as well as your shop if you'd like." Hermoine offered and he smiled sightly.

"It's not that, I'm just surprised that you'd think of it to be honest. I'd be happy to do it if i'd make you happy." He said with a charming smile.

"Great. When would you be available to sit down with me?" She asked him, excited now.

"How about Friday at 2pm? I'm closing the shop early that day anyway. We could go to the leaky for a late lunch." He suggested and I thought to my timetable at school. I had free's on friday afternoon and was free to leave at my leisure.

"That would be great." She said, her face lighting up with her smile.

"Can I get some help please Sir?" Asked a lady behind them and Remus excused himself to go and help his customer.

Hermione browsed some more, picking up this book and that, reading their blurbs but not finding anything she wanted to read. Soon enough Remus came back over to her and she looked about to see that the store was empty.

"It's about time I close up now." He said and Hermione smiled sheepishly at him.

"Were you looking for anything in particular this time?" He asked her and she shook her head, no.

"Do you mind if I make a suggestion then?" He said and then grabbed a book of the shelf.

"It's about a boy who's family is murdered and he goes on to try and find out who killed them. That's a really basic description though, and doesn't do it nearly enough justice." He said and Hermione took the book, reading the blurb. It looked interesting.

"I'll give it a go then." She said and Remus went over to the counter.

"That'll be six pounds. Considering that I practically forced it on you, It's half price." He said as i tried to protest.

"Won't you get in trouble with your boss?" She asked and he huffed out a low growly laugh that made her smile despite herself.

"If there was a boss to get into trouble with then yes I suppose I would. But seeing as I own this shop, I'm sure it'll go unnoticed." He said and Hermione looked around again.

"How old are you exactly?" She asked before she could stop herself but Remus just smiled.

"Isn't impolite to ask people their age?" He asked in amusement.

"People who say that tend to be older than they look." She said with narrowed eyes, really looking at him now, trying to guess.

"Okay, how about this, if you guess right I'll give you the book for free." He said and Hermione brightened at the challenge.

"Challenge accepted." She said and then studied him once more.

"You're obviously older than I am." She said slowly and he nodded.

"And how old are you exactly?" he asked with a smirk.

"I'd say your about twenty five." She said finally, ignoring his question.

"That'll be six pounds then Hermione." He said and she frowned. She pulled the money out of her purse and handed it over to him. When their hands touched she got a flash of numbers in her mind.

"Twenty seven." She said and Remus took hold of her hand, holding it tightly in his own. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them looking at her intensely.

"You're only eighteen." He said and Hermione pulled her hand away, her money landing in his outstretched hand.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, her breath quickening in her chest as she tried to figure out what that was. She had felt it again. The burning heat that corsed through her entire body at the touch of his skin on hers.

"You're only eighteen. Fuck." He said and ran a hand through his curly hair, making it messier than it already was.

"Why does that matter?" She asked, confused now.

"You're so young. I don't- I can't-" He said and then came out from behind his counter to flip the sign on the door, and locking it behind him. Hermione froze.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice nervous and shaky. He was practically a stranger, she knew hardly anything about him. He could be a cerial killer or a rapist or something. She needed to leave.

"I think I should go now." She said and Remus turned back to see that she was nearly shaking with fear.

"What?" He asked quietly and then looked to the door and then back at her.

"Oh, right that looks bad doesn't it." He said with a half hearted laugh. He unlocked the door once more and Hermione let out a breath of relief.

"You're not going to kill me or anything are you? I can't deal with that right now." She said and Remus laughed again.

"No, I would never hurt you. I-" He stopped himself from saying more.

"Do you want something to drink?" He asked and she looked at him in confusion.

"I want you to explain to me what is going on." She said sternly and Remus smiled at her again, almost amused at her stubbornness.

"It's too soon for that I think. You hardly know me and if I told you the truth you'd run away screaming." He said and Hermione raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"If I stay for a drink will you tell me?" She asked him.

"Probably not unless you got me drunk." He said and she nodded to herself, as if taking a mental note of that fact.

"So... do you have any whiskey?" She asked and he laughed outright.

"Unfortunately not my lady. But I have tea." He said.

"Sounds good." She agreed.

"My appartment is upstairs..." He said trailing off and she hesitated. But for some reason she trusted him, even though they had only met twice.

"Lets go then." She said and he lead the way, through the store room out the back and to the stairs. He unlocked the door at the top and ushered her inside, closing but not locking the door behind him. She put her bag down next to the door and made her way around the room, taking everything in.

It was an open space, the kitchen in one corner, a door in another, supposedly leading to a bathroom of some kind, in anoher corner was some couches and a huge bookshelf that was overflowing with books. In the last corner was a bed and chest of drawers. Near the bookshelf was a fire place and it was crackling away, making the whole room feel cozy and warm.

Hermione took of her winter coat and sat it over the back of the couch as she heard Remus pottering around in the kitchen behind her. She went to the bookshelf, inspecting the books and found that he had much the same taste as she did. There was a healthy does of classics mixed in with a varity of fiction and fantasy novels. In the bottom right hand corner, was a small collection of leather bound journals that looked quiet old and worn along with some more books on werewolves that looked interesting.

"Here you go." Remus said and Hermione turned around to see that he had placed a tray with tea on the coffee table.

"Can I have your hand for a moment?" He asked and Hermione gave it, only because she was curious as to what he wanted it for and figured that the fastest way to dfind out was to give it to him.

His hands were big and his fingers long. Hermione wondered if he played the piano breifly before he took her hand and heard music, a lovely rendition of Fur elise. She closed her eyes as the warmth spread through her once again but then it was gone. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her.

"You play the piano." She said and he only nodded before going about making their tea. She watched as he placed three spoonfulls of sugar in a cup, drizzled honey around it and then poured in the hot water. He stirred it for a moment before addin a tea bag and then handed it to her.

"You know how I take my tea." She stated as he made his own. One sugar with a splash of milk.

"No, I saw how you made your tea." He said and Hermione scrunched up her nose in confusion. Remus lifted a hand and ran his finger down the bridge of her nose to soften her face once more, before sipping his tea with a hum of contentment.

Hermione just sat there, really confused.

"Will it ever stop? They visions I mean." She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"That was a very vague answer." She said.

"I suppose it was, wasn't it?" He said with a wry smile.

"Stop trying to avoid the suject." She said.

"Stop trying to stear the conversation, Love." He replied and she huffed in annoyance. His eyes were glittering with amusement and mischeif.

"Okay then, lets get to know each other better. We can take turns asking questions both of us has to answer." Hermione suggested and Remus agreed to it.

"What's your favourite colour?" She asked.

"The colour of your eyes." He replied. She closed her eyes for a moment and looked away from him, shyly ducking her head. How did he make her feel this way? Charlie said cheesy thing like that to her all the time and she felt absolutely nothing for him.

"Red." She said as she opened her eyes again.

"Favourite animal?" he asked and she smiled at him.

"Wolf." She said and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I quite like dogs, Irish wolf hounds are my favourite though I like most equally." he said with that secret smile that lead Hermione to believe that there was more to it than that.

"Why am I not attracted to anyone but you?" She asked and he clicked his tongue, looking away for a moment before turning back to her.

"You're very persistant, you know that?" He said and she had the sudden urge to hit him upside the head and demand an answer out of him.

"Violence won't lead anywhere good with me I'm afraid." He said as he inhaled deeply. I was as if he were reading her mind.

"How the fuck do you do that?" She asked him almost yelling as her temper got the best of her.

"Sit down Hermione and I'll tell you the whole story." He said with a sigh and she sat down. She didn't even remember standing up to begin with so she didn't argue.

"I was bitten by a werewolf when I was four years old. My father had angered one-" He started but Hermione was having none of it.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! Werewolves aren't real! You're crazy. Why do I always attract the crazy ones." She said, standing up once more, grabbing her jacket and making her way towards the door. Memories of Victor, a football player that had graduated from her school four years ago came into her mind. She shuddered at the thought of him.

Remus's hand wrapped around her arm again and she was thrown into a vision of a giant wolf stalking towards a child, then it changed to a teenager sitting in a silver cage in what looked like a basement as he cried out in pain, his bones breaking at odd angles. It changed again to see the Remus she knew now writing his expirences down in a journal and again to some unknown man with long black hair and an easy smile flipping through said book and suggesting that Remus make some money of his condition because no one would believe it was true anyway.

Remus let go of her arm and she backed away from him unsure what to do now. This man had just broken everything she had ever believed to be true. Werewolves were real, living breathing things. And one was standing right in front of her. For some reason she felt only curiousity. She should be running away screaming to every one she saw that their was a monster living among them but she felt oddly safe here, as if nothing would ever hurt her again.

"Say you were telling me the truth, what does that have to do with the visions?" She asked and saw him breath a sigh of relief.

"You believe me." He breathed as he stepped closer to her, until they were a hairs width apart from each other. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and it smelt like spearmint tooth paste.

"Not until I have proof." She said as she took a step back, her back hitting the wall as he followed her.

"Okay." He said and then he kissed her, full on the mouth, hard and passionate. His soft lips pressed against hers and she felt a heat well up inside of her and her core get wet. His tongue forced it's way into her mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, she was on fire and she was bursting at the seems with passion for this man.

His hands trailed from her shoulders down her sides and to her waist and then down her thighs. He moved them around to the underside of her arse and lifted her easily, stepping forward once more and pressing her into the door as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She wanted more of him. She ran her fingers through his hair as he moved his lips from her mouth down to her jaw and trailed them down her neck. He nipped and licked and sucked and kissed his way down until he was at the base of her neck. He bit down extra hard and it made her moan in pleasure. Remus growled low in his chest and pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes.

What she saw was beautiful. His eyes were a bright golden colour and his teeth were on display as he smiled wolfishly at her, his canines obviously longer than the average tooth. He leaned down to her neck once again and bit down hard, breaking the skin. Hermione cried out in pain. What the hell did he think he was doing? She thought as she tried to push him away from her, but he was too strong. He pressed his hips into hers causing her to moan in pleasure again, the pain recedeing as he licked at the wound, ridding it of blood and healing it too.

"Remus, what did you just do to me?" Hermione asked him and he growled at her angry tone, rolling his hips into hers once more. She let out a strangled cry as he started to grind against her, the friction causing an intence heat to coil within her. She started to move her hips in time with his, wanting more friction.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

They froze as they heard a knock on the door they were leaning on. Remus looked up to see Hermione's hair had fallen out it's usual hair tie and her frizzy curls were hanging wildy around her face and she looked flushed. Remus kissed her once more and let go of her legs, letting them fall to the floor as he stood up straight.

He moved her behing him and then opened the door. Hermione looked around him to see the same handsome black haired man from the vision that Remus had shown her just minutes before.

"Sirius." Remus said, in a tone that suggested that he was an uninvited guest.

"Remus. It's been a while." He said and Remus moved me as he moved, so that I stayed behind him as the man moved farther into the room and looked around.

"Yes well the last time I saw you, you were being put in prison for the murder of our friends. Tell me, how did you escape?" Remus asked, his voice cool and calm. Hermione's eyes widened as she heard what the man was accused of.

"Peter is still alive. He framed me Remus. I didn't do it." He said and Remus froze obviously in shock.

"No, Peter died. You killed him along with the others. They found his finger, they-"

"He cut his own finger off, Mooney. It was all him. Greyback put him up to it, to get back at us for trying to take over his pack. Peter was on his side all along." Sirius said. He stopped looking around the room and sniffed the air in a canine way that resembled a dog and then his eyes light up with mischeif.

"Who's the bird behind you?" He asked and Remus growled threateningly. Sirius rasied his hands in a guesture that clearly said that he meant no harm.

"She's mine and you'll have nothing to do with her until I have proof that what you say is the truth." Remus said, his voice gruff and strained.

"You found your mate then? Finally. Have you marked her yet?" Sirius asked and Hermione gasped at the implications of it. She was a werewolf's mate. She was Remus's mate. Ti finally made sense now.

"Sirius, shut up." Remus growled out, glancing back at her to see she was smiling slightly. He calmed somewhat, knowing that the information didn't anger her and then faced Sirius once more.

"Right. Well, I need your help to find the bastard and turn him in. There was also a witness, who saw him run from the scene that we need to find too, so that it doesn't look like I'm lying when I go back to the police and demand a trial." He said and sat down on the couch with a thump. Remus sighed, turned to me and kissed me again before taking my hand and guiding me to the couch.

"Sirius Black, this is Hermione Granger." Remus said and Sirius stood in front of her, bowed slightly and then took her outstretched hand, kissing it lingeringly as he winked at Remus. Hermione pulled her hand away, a queezy feeling bubbling in her stomach at the intimate gesture from the other man. She sat in the seat next to Remus on the couch and curled up against his side, placing her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"You marked me." She said quietly and Remus hummed a reply that she felt rumble through his chest.

"With out asking me first." She said again. The response was the same and Hermione had a feeling he wasn't at all sorry that he did it.

"And without explaining everything like you said you would." She finished and Remus just wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her more tightly against his chest.

"Well it looks like I came at an interesting time then, eh Mooney?" Sirius said and her eyes snapped open to see him looking rather amused at the both of them.

"You did indeed." Hermione replied as she closed her eyes once more, rather tired all of a sudden.

"Can I borrow your phone for a minute Remus?" She asked before she forgot and fell asleep.

"Sure love." He said and pulled a cell phone out of her pocket, handing it to her. She dialed Ginny's number and put the phone to her ear, not really wanting to move from her spot against Remus's chest.

"Hello?" Said the voice of her best friend.

"Hey Gin, It's Hermione. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to spend the night at a friends house. Can you tell your mum for me?" She said and got ready for the onslaught of questions she was bound to be asked.

"I wasn't aware you had any other friends than Harry, Ron and I." She said smugly.

"Well I do."

"Who is it then?" She asked challengingly.

"Can i tell you when I see you tomorrow?" She asked.

"Sure. I'll even bring your school things with me. But only if you buy me breakfast. I'll meet you at seven thirty at the bakery." She said and then hung up before Hermione could say anything else. She closed the phone and handed it back to Remus who, along with Sirius, were looking at her with amusement.

"What?" She asked as she snugled back into Remus's chest and closed her eyes once again, feeling the tiredness become even harder to fight off.

"You just invited yourself to stay the night without asking." Sirius stated and Hermione huffed in annoyance.

"I'm tired and don't really feel like stumbling through the woods in the dark in order to get home tonight, so yes I did. I'm sure Remus doesn't mind at all. I'm his mate after all." She said and Remus growled appreciatly when her heard her say it.

"Right, well now's probably a bad time to ask if I can sleep on your couch tonight then isn't it?" He said and she could feel Remus nod.

"S'okay. Too tired to have sex anyway." She said and the last thing she heard before she fell asleep was Sirius's bark like laughter and Remus's chuckle.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Hermione woke to the sound of really bad singing coming from the bathroom. She groaned and moved around a bit to get more comfortable in bed. She smiled when she felt Remus pressed against her, his leg flung over hers and his arm wrapped tightly over her waist. She settled back into him, resting her head against his shoulder and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of chocolate and chai and his body heat.

Her smile widened when she felt his morning erection pressed against her thigh. She shifted slightly, rubbing her leg agaisnt his cock, hoping to rouse him from his sleep. It only made him press his hips harder into her body.

"Remus." She whispered into his ear, letting her breath brush over it and tickle his hair. He snuggled closer to her, nuzzling her neck and then his tongue darted out to taste her skin, where he had marked her as his the previous night.

"Hermione." He breathed, shifting so that he was above her, his body pressed along her's at everY point. His smile was bright and happy as he leaned in for a kiss but Hermione leaned her head to the side, worried about her morning breath. He growled when he didn't meet her lips, opening his eyes to look down at her. His eyes were golden and he leaned in once more for a kiss but she moved away.

"I need to brush my teeth first." She said but he growled once again and rolled his hips into her's. She gasped when she realised she wasn't wearing any pants and he was cradled between her thighs. He hit her core and she gasped at the heat it caused to stir within her. Remus kissed his mark and trialed kisses and nibbled up her neck and jaw until he reached her lips once more, taking her in a passionate kiss that made her head spin as his hips grinded into hers again and again.

She could feel the coil build up within her once again and she moaned into his mouth as she felt it was about to explode but they were interupted but someone clearing their throat loudly. Remus stopped and pulled away from her, causing a whine to leave her throat. Remus turned to glare at Sirius growling in annoyance at his friend. They had talked some more after Hermione had fallen asleep and appologised for things that happened in the past.

"Good morning to you too." He said and both Hermione and Remus stretched and got out of bed. Sirius's leering eyes trailed over Hermione's body and Remus took a protective step towards her, and in front of her to block his view.

"Love, go have a shower and put some clothes on. I need to have a word with this mutt about boundaries." He said and Hermione smiled at him, standing up on her toes to kiss just below his jaw because she couldn't reach his cheek.

"Don't hurt him too badly." She said with a wink in Sirius's direction and then skipped into the bathroom to do exactly what he had suggested.

Hermione showered and then brushed her teeth with the only tooth brush in the entire bathroom, doubting that Remus would mind very much. She got dressed in the same clothes she was wearing yesterday and gathered her hair into a bun on the top of her head like she usually wore it. She tidied up the bathroom when she was done and then made her way out to the kitchen shoes, socks and the borrowed top in hand.

"I'm keeping this top." She declared as she sat down at the kitchen table with Sirius and proceeded to watch Remus scurry about the kitchen making food.

"But it's one of my favourites." Remus said but he didn't sound as if he minded all that much.

"Then I'll leave it hear and wear it every time I come over." Hermione said and somehow she could tell he was smiling.

"So..." Sirius said and a timer went off on the oven.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked, suddenly remembering her breakfast date with Ginny.

"About seven fourty, why?" Sirius asked and Hermione swore, pulled her socks and shoes on and kissed Remus thoroughly before running for the door.

"I'll be back after school." She said as she dashed out of the apartment and down the stairs.

"She's still in school?" She heard Sirius exclaim followed by an impressive string of swearing just before the door closed behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

"I'm so sorry I'm late Gin." Hermione said as she ran up to the red head just out side the bakery. Ginny looked highly amused at her disheveled state.

"I'll forgive you if you buy me a coffee and some eggs and bacon on toast." She said and Hermione agreed, leading the duo into the bakery and ordering their food.

"Okay spill. Who's your 'friend' and why do you look thoroughly shagged?" Ginny asked and Hermione laughed in spite of herself. Trust Ginny to get straight down to the point.

"His name is Remus and he owns the book shop down town. I spent the night at his place because I was practically falling asleep on his couch last night and it was too late to walk home in the dark. I look thoroughly shagged because... well..." She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. It was too intimate a thing to share with her friend. She had never been one to share secrets or such before, but secrets of this kind were new to her as she had never really had any to share in the first place.

"You had sex. You sly dog. I didn't even know you had a boyfriend." The red head said, knowing that she always said she was going to be in a commited relationship before she had sex for the first time.

"I don't... well maybe I do. We haven't really defined what we are yet and we didn't have sex." She said and Ginny just raised her eyebrow at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

"God, If I knew you were going to want all the gory details I would have filmed it and made you a copy. Jezz, Gin, can't a girl have some privacy?" Hermione asked, exasperated.

"Okay fine. Don't tell me, but it's going to cost you a donut to go." Gin said as their food arrived. She sighed and relented. Today was going to be hard enough without Gin nagging her about it. It was her first day back at school since her father died and she was a little nervous at all the attention she was going to get.

"Don't look so nervous. It's only a week you missed and you were already ahead anyway so it shouldn't make much difference. If you have any trouble I'm sure Neville will help you. Or even one of Luna's friends. I could ask her for you if you want?" Gin asked, but she shook her head.

"I'll be fine, as you said."

The day went by slowly, and Hermione's mind kept on wonderig back to Remus. She went through her subjects (Biology, History, English and her research project time) not really paying much attention. She had already read ahead past this stuff anyway so she really didn't need to take notes. By the time the last bell went , the only productive thing Herminoe had done all day was compile a list of things she was going to ask Remus in the mock interview.

She smiled slightly as she walked home behind her friends, at the thought that it wasn't really a mock interview. He was really a werewolf, and she was going to be able to ask him any question she came up with.

She returned to the burrow and Mrs Weasley bombarded her with questions about the friend she stayed with the night before. This got attention from the rest of the Weasley boys, their curiousity piqued.

All the way up to the bedroom she shared with Ginny she was harrassed by the twins, wanting an update on her virginal status.

"Who's your new boe 'Mione?" Fred asked. Hermione ignored him.

"Come on, you can tell us, we won't tell another soul." George tried.

"But that means you could tell Percy because apparently he has no soul, and then instruct him to tell everyone else." She replied, cursing her non existant filter once again. The twin's eyes lit up at the idea and they leaned simultaneously kissing her on each cheek anf then ran off with a "Thanks Hermione."

"I bought you something at lunch time today." Ginny told her as she closed the door behind her, trying to will away the naesous feeling she had after being kissed by the twins.

"And what would that be exactly?" She asked the girl suspicously.

"Here. You're staying at Remus's again tonigth I take it?" The red head asked, handing her the box.

"I don't know, maybe. Depends." She said opening the box to see a beautiful set of cream lingerie in her size.

"I can't accept this Gin. It's too much." She said as she gave the box back to her friend.

"Just take it. It was on sale and when I saw it it screamed Hermione Granger at me so you have to take it. You'll look sexy as hell and he won't be able to keep his hand off you." Gin said with a wink and Hermione looked at the box again, the idea becomeing more and more tempting before finally she caved in.

"Good. Now, to pick an outfit." Ginny said and stalked towards the suitcase open in the corner.

"Ah here you go." She said picking out a pale blue skirt and a white blouse.

"Put those on and then I'll help you with your hair." She said. Hermione obed. She clasped on the lacy cream bra and slid on the underwear and garter belt. She rolled the white stockings up her legs and clasped the garter belt onto them before taking a look at herslef int he mirror. She had to admit that she felt extremely sexy in the out fit and she was smiling to herself as she reached over for the skirt.

She was about to pull it on when the door opened and Charlie came in, not knocking or announcing he was here. They both froze when they saw each other, hermione in her nickers and Charlie in awe of the goddess before him.

"I - uh- sorry I was just looking for my book." He stuttered, breaking his eyes away from her body as she started to feel queezy again. He grabbed the book from the bed closest to him and gave her one last lingering look before closing the door behind him.

Hermione stood there for a moment and breathed, willing away the sick feeling she got and then pulled on her skirt and the her top, tucking it in. She left her hair the way it was, knowing that Ginny wouldn't change it because it looked nice and pulled on a pair of black and white slip ons. She grabbed her bag, that had a tooth brush stored in it just in case, and headed out the door.

Fred and George saw her pass down the stairs and whistled their appreciation for her, she felt the sickness stir in her again. She went into the kitchent to tell Mrs Weasley she was going out and would be home until late, and she felt Charlie and Bill both staring at her, the sick feeling got even worse. When went out the door and ran into Ron, Harry and Ginny, who all complimented her on her clothing she felt it get even worse. Once she had gotten away from everyone and was hidden by the walking track in the woods she bent over and threw up in a bush.

She resigned herself to ask Remus if it was a side effect of being his mate and being marked by him. She grabbed a tissue out of her bag and wiped her mouth out, not liking the taste lingering and then threw it in the first bin she came across. As she walked, she chewed on a peice of gum, wanting the flavour of sick out of her mouth.

BY the time she reached Remus's shop she felt a lot better. She spat the gum out into the bin a little way away and then entered the shop to see Sirius, serving customers as Remus stocked the shelves.

"Isn't that a little dangerous, having him serve people when he just broke out of prison." Hermione said and Remus jumped in surprise and turned to her with a smile on his face.

"A witch gave us a glamour. Only people who know who he is, see the real him." He said and her eye's widened in shock at the knowledge that there were actually witches.

"I'm just kidding Hermione. Witches aren't real. Shape shifters are however and my daft friend over there just so happends to be one of them. He can change his appearance enough so that you recognise him but others won't. He's not very good at human shifting, you have to be a certain kind of shifter for that. He's better at turning into animals, dogs are his specialty." Remus explained and she nodded along, watching the man and noticing the subtle differences. His nose was longer, and his hair lighter, his eyes were the same colour as mine instead of the stormy grey they were last night. He was shorter, and a bit chubby as well.

"Right well then. What else is real?" She asked Remus and he laughed.

"Unfortunately a lot of things. There are three catergories you can fall under. Shifter, which includes were's and shape shifters, fae, which are humans with abilities you could say, like vampires and sirens and incubus's and the third are creatures which are goblins, faries, sprites, nymphs and the like." He said, sounding a lot like a teacher as he explained it to her.

"Right, well that'll help me sleep at night." Hermione said and Remus laughed pulling her into a hug, and pressing his lips to her forehead.

"Well if you sleep in my bed, you won't be getting much sleep anyway so it won't matter." He said his voice husky and deep.

"Who said that was going to happen again anytime soon?" She asked him with a cheeky grin and skipped away when he tried to pull her back to him.

"What time does the store close today Rem?" She asked him as she hid behind Sirius and the counter when he chased her.

"Five thirty. We have another hour or so before we can go upstairs." He said with a smile. Hermione took the chance to run out from behind Sirius and make for the non-fiction section but Remus was too fast and caught her around the waist, lifting her into his arms and spinning her around in triumph.

"Fine you caught me. You win." She said around her giggles. The patrons of the shop were looking on at the young couple fondly. Remus put her down and leaned to whisper in her ear.

"What's my prize?" He asked her and she shivered pleasantly and what his tone of voice suggested.

"What do you suggest?" She asked him, her flirting coming from a place within her that she didn't even know existed.

"Can I have your skirt?" He asked, pulling at the offending material with a smirk.

"Maybe later." She said and pulled out of his arms and giving him a wink as she grabbed her bag from where she dropped it in front of the counter. She made sure to beg over just so, and she could feel Remus's heated gaze on her arse as her underwear were bared to him along with her stockings and garter.

A smug smile crossed her face as Sirius rasied an eyebrow at her. She moved around the counter and shoved him out of the seat, pulling it over out of the way so that she could pull out some work to do while she waited for the shop to close.

"Do you want him to pounce on you and rip your clothes off?" Sirius asked as he handed a young lady her books. She blushed as she over heard their conversation but Sirius only winked at her and then looked back at Hermione waiting for an answer.

"Because he will if you keep on teasing him like that." He continued.

"I don't think it's any of your business." She said to him. He smiled kindly at her.

"Honey, I have the very unique ability to tell when someone is a virgin and I know you are. So if you want your first time to be special I'd dial it down a notch, other wise he's going to be ripping your nickers of and fucking you against the door like he almost did the other day when I walked in." He said and Hermione's face tinged pink.

"I'll be sure to take your vulger advice into consideration the next time I pick up my bag." She said and he laughed.

"I've only known you a day and I already like you." He said and she couldn't help but smile.

The store closed soon after that and they all made their way up to Remus's fat. Sirius went about making something for dinner while she and Remus settled comfortably on the couch.

"How was your day?" Remus asked and she snorted.

"God it was boring. I can't wait to be done with school. It's hardly challenging at all. All the work they give out is extremely easy." She said and Remus started playing with her hair.

"Why don't you wear your hair down more often?" He asked her.

"Because it's wild. And frizzy." She said as she scrunched up her nose in distaste.

"I think that it's beautiful. Wild suits you." He said and she nudged him in the rips playfully.

"Hey, something weird happened to me today and I was wondering if it was to do with my being your mate and all." She said and Remus stopped playing with her hair and looked down at her.

"I suppose I have a lot to fill in in that regard." He said and she nodded in agreement.

"I kind of threw up after a couple of people checked me out." She said and Rmeus raised an eyebrow as if asking me to elaborate.

"I got sick after... well... one of Ron's older brothers, Charlie, walked in on me getting changed this afternoon and he clearly looked at me. I felt sick while he did it. Then when i was walking down stairs the twins wolf whistled at me and I felt sick again, but worse than the first time. And then in the kitchen, Charlie and Bill both gave me the eye. On my way out of the house I ran into Ron, Harry and Ginny and after they were gone I threw up in a bush." She finished and looked up at Remus to see his eyes were gold. He growled before placing his hands on her cheeks and capturing her lips in a bruising kiss that got her all hot and bothered. He broke it of sooner than she would have liked and leaned his forehead against hers gathering his breath.

"You're mine." He said and she could only nod as he stared into her eyes. The gold faded eventually and she kissed him one more time before pulling back.

"It's because of the mark. I claimed you and now it's telling you that you can't have anyone else. The feeling will fade after a while, it's just intense now because it's fresh. After a month or so, it'll become just an uncomfortable feeling." He said and she nodded as she settled back against him and took his hand in hers, studying it.

For the first time she noticed that he had scars running over his skin. She traced them with her fingers as she wondered if they were from the transformation.

"They're all over my body." He said and she just smiled and brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed it softly.

"I look forward to exploring them." She said and then leaned in to whisper in his ear, "With my tongue." She finished and she heard Remus groan and shift himself on the couch. She smirked when she saw that he was hard.

"You know I think I should tell you something before we go any further here." She said suddenly and Remus looked at her curiously.

"And what would that be Love?" He asked.

"I've never... I'm a virgin." She whispered into his ear again, aware that Sirius was in the room. Remus stiffened next to her and she studied his face for a reaction.

"With the way you've been teasing me today, I wouldn't have expected that." He said and looked down at her. She smiled sheepishly up at him and he chuckled.

"I know. I feel right with you. I know I haven't known you very long but I feel like I've known you forever. It's strange really. I always thought I had to be in a long term committed relationship before I even thought about sex, and now, with you it's like I want it all the time and I don't even know what it is that I'm wanting." She said in a rush.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Werewolves mate for life. You can consider that mark on your neck like an engagement ring. The wedding ring goes in," He paused and ran a hand up her thigh, "more intimate places." He finished with a grin and her heart melted.

"On my thigh?" She asked slightly confused.

"On the inside of your thigh," He said moving his hand so that it was under my skirt and ran it up so that it sliped inbetween my legs and grabbed hold of the flesh that he was refering to. It was so close to my core that I felt his hand brush over my already wet nickers.

"Right here." He said and his eyes turned gold again as he inhaled deeply.

"Gods, I can smell you." He said as he kissed me again, but only lightly before he stood up and made his way into the kitchen leaving her there practically panting on the couch as she stared at the place he just left. She wasn't the only one doing the teasing it would seem. She calmed herself down, thinking about Harry and Ron and even Malfoy of all people until she felt sick again and the arousal went away. She let out a deep breath as she stood up and went the kitchen, sitting down at the table and watching the two men work around each other.

"You didn't say that it worked on thoughts too. The sick thing I mean." She said and both Remus and Sirius turned to look at her.

"Why are you thinking about other men like that for?" Sirius asked as Remus just stared at me.

"So I could calm down and prevent myself from jumping on Remus and tearing his clothes off." Hermione said and Remus smirked in triumph and Sirius just shook his head, clearly amused.

"Well now you know." Remus said and turned around as well. They moved around the kitchen with ease and she wondered how long they had been friends for, to know each other so well that they predicted their next moves


	10. Chapter 10

I can't believe that I've actually written ten whole chapters of this story in one day. I feel proud of it too. xx Gemmortia

* * *

Chapter ten

"So how did you guys meet?" Hermione asked.

"At School. Known each other since we were little sprogs really." Sirius said.

"We were known as the Marauders at school. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, were our nicknames. All shifters of course. They used to accompany me on full moons to make sure I didn't kill anybody and the like. It's was much better when the wolf in me gets to stretch it's legs rather than be locked up in a cage the one night it's allowed out and about." Remus said.

"Thats sweet." She said and Sirius snorted at that.

"If you think it's sweet, wait until you see the scars he gave me. He's very agressive when's he's a wolf. It took two of us to get him to behave." Sirius said, lifting up his shirt to reveal a long scar that went across his stomach. It wasn't deep but it looked like it hurt a lot.

"How did you two meet?" Sirius asked, gesturing between the two with a wooden spoon covered in pasta sauce.

"In the shop. She came in looking for my book." Remus said as he came over a kissed the top of my head affectionately.

"Eck. Enough with the PDA already. It's not like I don't know how it feels to be kissed by you Mooney, I don't need to see you kissing someone else too." Sirius said and Remus frowned.

"Oh, come on, I was just kidding. Twenty years is not too soon to joke about it." He said and Remus's frown deepened.

"So you guys kissed when you were seven?" I asked and Sirius shot Remus a look before turning to me.

"I'm going to go for a walk and when I come back you'll know the truth." He said with a pointed look in Remus's direction. Sirius sqeezed her shoulder on the way out. They were silent for a moment and they both jumped when they heard the door shut as Sirius left.

"What was he talking about Remus?" Hermione asked as she stood up and stood in front of him, placing her hands on his waist.

"We kissed when we were eighteen years old and that was twenty years ago." He said and she leaned her head against his chest as she took in the news.

"But the vision said you were only twenty seven." She said, confused.

"I am." He said.

"You're not making any sense." She said and Remus wrapped his arms around her as she burrowed into his arms.

"We age slower than humans do. We live longer lives. Because I marked you, I passed on that trait to you as well." He explained and Hermione let out a breath she had been holding. She didn't want to die and leave him all alone. That would be horrible, she knew how it felt to be left alone like that and didn't fancy doing to any one else.

"Okay." Was all she said and Remus huffed in confusion.

"That's it? All you have to say is 'okay'? I tell you that I'm twenty years older than you and you just say 'okay'? You're incredible." He said and Hermione nuzzled his chest.

"My father was twenty three years older than my mother." She said and her chest tightened when she mentioned them.

"So it's not weird for you?" He asked.

"Is it weird for you?" She countered.

"If it was weird to be in love with a beautiful young woman then there must be something wrong with me." He said and Hermione rested her chin on his chest to look up at him with wide eyes.

"You love me?" She asked him, unsure how to handle his declaration. He smiled down at her and tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear before caressing her cheek softly.

"I'm finding that I do indeed." He said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. She stood on the tips of her toes to deepen the kiss, wanting to taste him and feeling him. They broke apart breathlessly and looked into each other's eyes for a long while utill Hermione remembered something about what Sirius had said.

"Were you and Sirius together when you were eighteen?" She asked innocently and Remus sighed running a hand through his hair.

"We were. For a couple of years, but we broke up a year before our friends had their kid, Harry. It was mutual. We were exploring our sexualities and found that we loved each other more than just friends so we tried it out for a year or two. We stayed friends afterwards until he was sent to prison."

"Okay." Was all she said and Remus kissed her again, passionately.

"It doesn't bother you either? That my ex is crashing on my couch?" He asked and she shook her head.

"I should tell you a couple of things then, if we're being honest. After we first met, and you touched my arm, I was curious about what it felt like to be kissed-"

"Wait you'd never been kissed before then?" He asked astonished.

"Yeah I'm really inexpirenced I know, gettinng back to the story. I asked a favour of one of my friends older brothers because I was staying at their place for the holidays and he as there at the time. I asked him to kiss me and he did." She said looking up at him guiltily.

"Did it go any further than that?" He asked a low growl to his voice that told her he was jealous.

"Not really... the kiss was great but I didn't feel anything. It was just lips pressing together and tongues exploring mouths there wasn't anything incredible about it, like when I kiss you, or even just when touch me. But he started to like me, he was the one that was with me when i found my father..." She trailed off and Remus frowned at this.

"You found him? How did he..."

"He wanted to be with her so he left me. He killed himself so he could be with my mother again." She said and Remus pulled her to him tighter.

"You never said anything. You never told me that she was gone too. I'm so sorry baby." He said and the term of endearment brought a smile back to her lips.

"It's okay. Charlie and I, we're really good friends now that he helped me through that but he still wants more and I only want you." She finished and Remus was still frowning.

"Charlie was the one that walked in on you in the nick wasn't he?" He said growling again.

"He's harmless don't worry. I've told him that if I ever change my mind, I'll be the one to go to him and that's not likely to happen any time soon." Hermione said.

"It will never happen." He said and pecked her on the lips.

"What about the food?" Hermione suddenly remembered and turned to see that it had all been turned off and it was ready.


	11. Chapter 11

More back ground information about what happened to Lily and James in this chapter. I'll be connecting all the dots soon.

* * *

CHapter eleven

Hermione ended up going back to the burrow after dinner, because she didn't want to intrude on Remus and Sirius.

The next couple of weeks went by quickly. Hermione went over to Remus's shop almost everyday after school, sitting around and doing her homework until the shop closed, and then all three of them went up to have dinner in the apartment.

Hermione expirenced her first full moon, and couldn't bring herself to stay away the morning after like Remus told her to. Intead she brought chocolate, and medical supplies and patched him up. She stayed with him all day, not wanting to leave him alone, and Sirius left them to it, going somewhere unknown.

Remus healed quickly, as the wouldn't were only superficial, and was up and about the next day, if not still sore.

She also finished her research project, with the help of Remus of course. She handed it in one friday afternoon, intending to go to the burrow for lunch and then over to see Remus and Sirius. Her teacher, Mrs McGonnigal, took one look at her work and pulled her aside, a confused but curious look on her face.

"Where did you get this information from Hermione?" Her teacher asked.

"The author of that book I showed you lives in town. I asked him to participate in a mock interview, why?" Hermione asked her.

"Remus Lupin. Yes, good man, he is. Do you know him well?" She asked and Hermione looked at her, unsure where the questions were leading.

"Yes actually. We're dating." She said.

"Really? Isn't he a bit old for you dear?" Mrs McGonnigal said and Hermione narrowed her eyes at her teacher.

"Is that really any of your business?" She asked icily.

"Perhaps not." Her teacher replied with pursed lips. Her eyes drifted down to Hermione's neck, which was covered half heartedly with a scarf to hide the mark that Remus had placed on her neck weeks ago. The tall scottish woman's eyes widened when she saw the edge of the mark.

"He marked you. You're his mate." She said and Hermione raised an eyebrow at the older woman. Did you know Remus that well or was she a shifter as well? Hermione asked herself.

"I think that's a conversation you may need to have with Remus. I'll not be giving anything away that I'm not supposed to." She said and McGonnigal smiled at the girl.

"I think I might just do that dear." She said and then went back to teaching.

Hermione was confused as she walked back to the burrow, trying to find a connection between her teacher and her mate. Could she call him her boyfriend? She thought it sounded a bit childish and didn't much like the sound of it.

She got back to the burrow and sat at the ktichen table, eating lunch in silence and then retreating to her room to grab a book she was reading.

"Hey there my bushy haired friend. When are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?" Ginny asked as she walked into the room. She jumped and looked over to see the redhead curled up on Harry's chest, both looking at her accusingly.

"You didn't even tell me you had a boyfriend Mione." Harry said, a little hurt.

"It's still new and I didn't want to jinx it. Plus I've never been one to share personal details like that. I didn't go about advertising that I snogged Charlie in the kitchen so what makes you think I would be telling you this?" She said as grabbed her book and put it in her bag.

"WHAT! When did you kiss Charlie?" Ginny practically screamed jumping up out of her position of Harry's chest and bouncing over to her. Hermione sighed, annoyed that she didn't filter that particular thought.

"It was ages ago. I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss someone and he was just there... So I kind of took advantage of him." She told the younger girl and she squealed in delight.

"So my older brother was your first kiss? Oh god, Ron's going to be so jealous." Ginny gushed and Hermione scrunched up her face in confusion.

"Why would Ron care who I kiss?" She asked and Harry laughed at her.

"He's had a crush on you for the last two-ish years, love." He informed her.

"Why did he never say anything then?" She asked him.

"Because he's a bloody idiot is why." Ginny butted in.

"Right, well I'm going to the book shop. I'll call you later." She said and then left the room. She didn't really want to think about the Weasley boys right now. It was exauhsting.

Hermione arrived at Remus's shop just in time to see Sirius flipping the sign closed. He smirked at her and opened the door for her before locking it behind them.

"Good afternoon love." He said with a wink, changing his features back to his normal handsome face. Hermione stared at him with fascination as he did so, never having scene anyone shift like that before.

"Hi, is Remus about?" She asked him after she shook her head out the daze he had put her under

"Sure is. Upstairs I would imagine." He said and then went back to unpacking books from a box in the corner. They said nothing more as she made her way out the back and up the stairs to Remus's apartment. That was odd, she thought, usually Sirius was chatty.

"Remus, are you here?" Hermione called out and she could hear the shower running in the bathroom. She sighed and laid down on the couch, the day had tired her. She sat her bag on the coffee table and settled in, closing her eyes for a moment.

She blinked open her eyes as she heard a door close, sitting up as alertness washed over her. She was greeted with the sight of Remus's bare arse as he walked over to his chest of drawers, obviously not having seen her. She stayed quiet, taking in the naked form of her mate. He was pale and covered in raised scars that crisscrossed over his body, and took on a lighter sheen in the artificial light. She bit her lip as he turned around, and her eyes immediately gravitated towards his cock. It was big, longer that she expected and thick too.

"I can smell you, you know." Remus said as he pulled on some underwear and a pair of jeans. She sighed slightly when he covered himself and he chuckled, obviously havign heard it.

"You're kind of beautiful." Hermione said and Remus looked over at her, amusement shining in his amber eyes.

"Kind of?" He said teasingly as he walked over and lifted her feet, sitting down under them. Hermione tried to pull them away but he held them on his lap. She huffed and laid back on the couch once more, looking up at the ceiling.

"So how was your day?" She asked him as he started to trace random patterns on her calf, over her jeans.

"Fine, boring really. Sirius is a bit miffed though, not really sure what about. His mood swings could rival a pregnant woman." Remus said and Hermione laughed.

"I heard something interesting today." Hermione started, wanting to ask Remus about McGonnigal.

"Really? What was that?" He asked.

"I handed in my werewolf project and my teacher pulled me aside and started asking me all these questions about your book and then you as well." She said and his hand froze on her leg.

"Who's your teacher?" He asked, sounding strained.

"A Minerva McGonnigal. Do you know her?" She asked and Remus relaxed back into the couch and let out a deep breath.

"She's a good friend. Last time I saw her was about two years after Sirius was arrested. So about ten years ago." He said with a faint smile, probably remembering the woman.

"Wait, Sirius was in prison for twelve years?" She asked, alarmed. That much time in prison could change a person. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing when it came to Sirius.

"He was. Still should be actually. He was accused of killing fifteen people. He was framed for planting the bomb. As he tells it, it was Peter and not him and now that I've thought about it more, it makes more sense that it was Peter and not him. Sirius was completely devoted and loyal to the marauders and Lily. He would rather have died that betrayed them. Peter, he'd always been a bit scetchy. The last to be picked for sport teams, average grades, average looks and his family wasn't all that nice to be around. Should have seen the signs earlier." Remus confided as he closed his eyes.

"You can't have known he was going to do that Rem. Don't blame yourself. Sirius doesn't blame you I'm sure and if your friends were alive they wouldn't either." She said and he smiled slightly.

"So does McGonnigal know what you are or is she a shifter too?" She asked him after a while and he opened on eye to look down at her, only to find that she too, had her eyes closed.

"She's one of us." Hermione snorted in amsuement.

"So she can shift into a cat?" She asked him.

"How did you know she was a cat?" He asked her.

"I tripped over once outside of school, and a cat came up to me, to see if I was okay. It disappeared and seconds later she appeared. I didn't think it was a coincidence then and now I have proof that it wasn't." She said.

"You're really too smart for your own good." He said and she snorted again.

"And just what kind of trouble will it get me into I wonder?" She asked innocently, drawing a laugh out of him once more.

"Oh all sorts, I'd imagine." He said and he reached over to her, running his hands along her sides, tickling her. Peals of high pitched giggling escaped her lips as she curled in on herself, trying to get away from his hands as they reeked havoc on her stomach but he would not relent.

"Oh god, Please stop." She gasped between laughs but he was determined. She tried kicking him away to no avail. It only helped him to get closer to her as he shifted on the couch so that he was cradled between her legs, and was now pressed up against her chest. He leaned over her as she caught her breath finally giving up. She opened her eyes to find the beautiful man closer than she expected and her breath hitched in her throat.


	12. Chapter 12

Hop aboard the smut train as this chapter contains graphic content. ;) Enjoy. XX Gemmortia

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Hermione's eyes drifted down to his full, soft lips and then back up to this golden eyes as she felt his warm spearmint breath on her face. There was a moment of stillness as they took each other in and then she kissed him. She crashed her lips to his and kissed him with reckless abandon. She wound her arms around his neck and opened her mouth, inviting him to do the same.

Remus's hand travelled over her body as she expolred his mouth with her tongue. His fingers gently made their way under her top and onto her skin and she gasped when she felt how cold his hands were. They trailed along her skin, exploring the new territory slowly. Hermione could feel that familiar coil tighten within her and she wanted more. She'd yet to find out what it felt like when it exploded and she was determined to do so now.

She pressed her body closer to his, feeling his erection tight in his jeans and pressing into her core, making her moan. She wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting to feel friction and pressure and heat. His lips left hers, trailing down her neck and settling on her mark, kissing nad nibbling at it, sending shivers through her and a shock to her core. She was wet now, soaing through her underwear and Remus growled into her throat.

"Gods you smell delicious." He groaned and pulled away for a moment, pulling her top up and over her head, exposing her chest to him. Her was panting, her desire building at a steady rate and she felt a need for something more, though she didn't know exactly what it was. Remus tossed the top to the side and then resumed his kissing, travelling lower down her chest as his hands found the clasp of her bra, unhooking it and then sliding it off her shoulders, tossing it in the same direction as her top.

He sat back for a moment as his eyes roved over her exposed breasts, a hungry look in his eyes, that she hadn't seen before. She felt the sudden urge to cover her chest, as she had never been in this position before. Remus noticed her discomfort and looked her in the eyes, smiling sweetly before kissing her again, making her see stars.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered against her lips and then made his way back towards her chest. One of his hands slid down her body and caressed her arse, wandering over her thigh as well, pulling her hips closer to his as the other touched her breast lightly. He took a nipple into his mouth and rolled it around, causing her to moan and arch her back. He played with her breasts, paying each one a similar amount of attention before going lower still, moving his body so that he was kneeling on the floor next to her. His hands moved to the buttons on her jeans and stilled, his eyes searching hers questioningly, asking for permission.

She could only nod. He smiled wolfishly at her and unbottoned them, pulling them down her legs and setting them a side. He kissed the inside of her thighs and she shivered again when his kissed the place he said he would one day bite, claiming me in a more intimate manner. She just hoped he'd ask before doing it.

He fingered her black lace underwear for a moment before tugging them down too, flinging them over his shoulder. His eyes closed as he inhaled deeply and Hermione leaned up on her elbows, to watch him entraced.

"I'm going to taste you now.'' He growled out and then kissed her core. She gasped at the jolt of pleaure she felt and closed her eyes, her head tipping back as she enjoyed the sensations.

Remus nuzzled into her and then ran his tongue over the entire length of her causing her to cry out. He latched onto her clit, kissing, sucking and nibbling and she collapsed back onto the couch. She could feel that coil become tighter, and more intense by the second and her hands went to his head, running through his hair as she encouraged him with her moans of pleasure.

"Oh god that feels so good." She said and Remus grunted in agreement as he continued his minstrations. Hermione felt a kind of stillness for a moment before the coil snapped and an intense wave of pleasure ran over her and blank ecstacy encompased her entire body.

"Oh, Remus." She cried out as she expirenced her first orgasm. She sat panting as she came down from her high and Remus kissed up her body leisurely.

"That was amazing." She breathed as he settled around her his arms on either side of her head as he looked down at her.

"You look beautiful when you fall apart like that." He said and kissed her. She could taste herself on his lips and was instantly intriuged by it. The kiss was lazy on her part, her post orgasm bliss settling in. Remus broke off the kiss and leaned his forehead on hers as he closed his eyes.

"I- I've never felt anything like that before." She said shyly and Remus huffed out a breath.

"You mean that was your first orgasm?" He asked.

"I did tell you I was a virgin." She said.

"But- I don't- Don't you masturbate?" He blurted out and she laughed at the incredulousness in his voice.

"You know, I've never really felt the need to do so." She said and he kissed her again. She became aware, once again of his erection pressing into her.

"Oh, what about you?" She asked him, rolling her hips into his to emphasise her meaning. He groaned and retailiated, grinding his hips into hers, and she could feel herself become aroused once more.

"I- oh god..." He trailed off as he thrust against her harder, making her moan.

"I want more." She gasped out as she wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders and pulled him closer so that her breasts grazed across his chest.

"Wait, no. Stop for a minute." He said, pulling away from her and stilling their hips. She whined at the loss of him, using her legs to pull him back down to her. They both groaned when they had contact once more and Remus leaned down to bit her on the neck, hard enough to get her attention, but not hard enough to break the skin. She stopped her movements as he kissed it before coming back to look her in the eyes.

"I don't want you to rush into this. We've only been together so long and your first time should be special. Not on the couch in the heat of the moment." Remus said as he nuzzled his nose along hers.

"You're right." She said, letting her legs fall from his waist and back onto the couch. Remus sat up on his knees and Hermione could see his erection once more as she lay naked in front of him. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked her over and she could tell he wanted her, wanted to fuck her into the couch. But he didn't.

She sat up and leaned forward, reaching for his jeans, with the intension of getting him off by other means. His hands shot out and grabbed hers, stilling them as he looked at her questioningly. She just smiled at him mischeivously. He raised on eyebrow but let her go, too lost in his desire and lust to really question what she was doing.

She pulled his jeans off and down his legs, followed by his underwear. She slid off the couch and kneeled in front of him as he sat there, looking down at her with awe. She looked at his cock, and noticed it was even bigger and thicker when it was hard. She reached out and ran her fingers along the tip making him groan and then down to the base.

"Show me how to please you." She asked and he took her hand, guiding it around him. She wrapped her fingers around the tip of him as he covered her hand with his, proceeding to guide it up and down his length in long even strokes, making sure her hand rubbed over the tip every time. After a moment or so, his hand fell away and he moaned as she pleasured him. She found it almost fascinating to watch him come undone just as he had done to her earlier.

His face was flushed and his lips parted as he leaned his head back against the couch. Soon his hips were thrusting into her hands and she felt felt him tense before he exploded into her hands, coming hard as he murmurred her name. They were still for a moment, Remus gathering his breath and Hermione studying the white liquid that now covered her hands and Remus's skin.

She wondered how it tasted, as Remus had enjoyed how she tasted. Before she could stop herself, her curiousity got the better of her and she leaned down, licking the length of his fading cock. She rolled it around her mouth and found that she didn't mind the salty flavour. She looked back up at Remus to see him smirking at her. She smiled sheepishly and he lifted her chin up swiping away something that was on the side of her mouth. He lifted his finger towards his own mouth and sucked it clean.

He grabbed her hands, that were now sitting on his bare thighs and pulled her up as he stood, kissing her before stepping away.

"I think another shower is in order." He said as he started to gather his clothing off the ground, along with hers. He then took her hand and guided her to the bathroom. He dropped their clothes into the hamper and turned on the shower, letting it heat up before climbing under the hot stream of water. Hermione just stood there watching him. She was never going to get used to seeing him in all his glory. It was too much for her. He was jsut too damn good looking, she thought to herself.

"The point of a shower is to be under the water Hermione." Remus said, interupting her blatant perusal of his body, yet again. She blinked at him.

"That was an invitation." He said and so she walked over to the shower and opened the door, sliding uner the water and closing the door behind her. When she was in, Remus wrapped his arms around her, pressing his body against her back as he rubbed some soap onto a looffa. He then proceeded to wash her, the soap gliding over her sweaty body, cleaning her skin. She leaned back into him, enjoying the feeling of being pampered and then eagery returned the favour.

Once out of the shower they dried each other off and then Remus went to get changed again, coming back with some clothes for her to wear as well. She put on her favourite top of his, and some boxer shorts, forgoing her dirty underwear. The top was well worn and comfortable. It was a light blue and hung down to mid thigh. It smelled just like him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

She smiled to herself as she walked out of the bathroom only to find a smug looking Sirius sitting at the kitchen table as Remus pottered around the kitchen.

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him before walking over to Remus and hugging him around his middle, kissing his back as she did so. She leaned around him, not letting go as she did, to see what he was making.

"Chicken and chips." He said with a smile. She kissed his back again before sitting down at the table, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sipped the tea Sirius passed to her.

"Right, well I think now's as good a time as any to inform you that I found that witness that I was talking about." Sirius said and Remus and Hermione both just stared at him.

"It was Marlene McKinnon." Sirius said, giving Remus a pointed look.

"Fuck." He said and Hermione looked between to two for a moment before sighing.

"Help me out here?" She asked Sirius and he gave her a half smile.

"An old flame of mine. Dated her through school off and on before Remus here. She's been paid off by Greyback not to say anything. Though she only took the money after he brutally murdered her entire family. Not sure why he didn't just kill her too but apparently he has a soft spot for blonds or something.

"Anyway, she's the reason Harry's alive. She took him for a walk outside to get him to calm down when the explosion went off. She saw Peter walk out and I was running after him but I was too hurt so I collapsed outside the restaurant. She went straight to McGonnigal with the boy and then disappeared." Sirius said and Hermione was staring wided eyed as she finally got the full story.

Remus had never actually told her what had happened to his friends all those years ago and she felt it was too painful to ask about.

"What do we do now?" She asked Sirius and he looked at her with confusion.

"There is no 'we' Hermione. You're not getting involved in this. I want you nowhere near Greyback or any of his pack members." Remus growled and she turned to she his eyes were alight with gold.

"But I want to help." She said and Remus growled again making her flinch at his anger.

"No. I won't put you in danger. This conversation is over." He said and Hermione stood up, her anger rising as he treated her like a child.

"You don't get to decide this for me Remus. I can make my on decisions. I'm not some weak little girl who can't protect herself." She said, her voice strong and defiant. She was not going to let him push her around, even if it was the last thing she ever did.

"I never said you were, love. But you've never faced them before. You haven't seen the kinds of things they're capable of. They wouldn't hesitate to kill you, just to get to us. They're brutal and vicious and I won't have you in the line of their fire. I don't think I could live without you." He said.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at him. It warmed her heart to hear how much he cared for her.

"I still want to help you." She said. Sirius was looking between the to with caution, hoping that Moony wouldn't flip out and hurt her.

"And how would you do that exactly? No offence but you're not the stongest looking woman, nor do you look menacing either. Do you even know how to fight? What happens when you come face to face with a shifter that can turn into some dangerous creature?" Sirius interupted and Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"My father was rather fond of hunting, being his only child, he taught me a thing or two. And my mother insisted on martial arts lessons from when I was four, claiming that a girl in this day and age needed to know how to defend herself." She said and Sirius smiled a wide toothy grin.

"I still don't like the idea." Remus said and Hermione sighed.

"You don't even have a plan yet. All you have is the hope that you'll find Marlene. Once you have her, all you have to do is take her straight to the police and demand a trial, they'll put her in protective custody and Sirius back in a cell until his name is cleared." Hermione said and it sounded simple enough.

"Ah, but heres the thing. We need to convince her that I'm innocent. She doesn't know that what she saw is the key to helping me get off. She still thinks that I betrayed Lily and James, along with Peter. I can't very well walk up to her and ask her to come with me. She'd scream bloody murder. Either that or try to kill me herself." He said with a huff of annoyance.

"And with you breaking out of prision, Greyback is sure to have people watching her every move. I just hope he hasn't gotten to Harry yet either. That's another thing right there. We need to find him too. He's at the right age to start showing signs of shifting." Remus said.

Hermione's mind was working in overdrive, connecting the dots with the new information she learned. Lily and James were the same names of Harry's parents. The parents that died twelve years ago when he was only six years old. It couldn't be the same people could it?' She asked herself.

"What were their last names?" She interupted them, cutting off their conversation.

"Who's last names, sweetheart?" Sirius asked.

"Lily and James." She clarified.

"Potter. Lily and James Potter." Remus said. "Why?" Hermione's eyes went wide as she connected it all. Her best friend was the son of her mate's dead friends.

"He was left with Lily's sister, Petunia." She said and Remus and Sirius just stared at her.

"How do you know that? How did you even know that she had a sister? Are you some kind of Fae? A seerer or something?' Sirius asked as he stood up and started pacing. Hermione didn't answer.

"Tell me where he is Hermione!" Sirius demanded, rushing forward towards her and placing his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure how to handle the madness that she saw over take his features. This had been what she was worried about. The affect of being wrongly imprisoned for years had finally begun to show.

"Tell me where my godson is right now!" He roared and then he froze as a growl came from behind him.

"Unhand my mate, Padfoot." Remus said, his voice deadly calm and serious.

"It's alright Remus, he's not hurting me." Hermione said. She locked eyes with Sirius and gave him a soothing smile.

"He's at my house. Well not my house, but the Weasley's house, were we're staying." She said and Sirius sighed in relief, letting her go and moving about the room. He grabbed his jacket and put his shoes on intending to go right now.

"Sirius you can't just show up and claim to be some kind of long lost friend of his parents. There's things you don't know. It won't make sense to him yet. Wait until tomorrow and I'll inivte him out to lunch with Remus and I. We can bring you along in dog form so you can see he's alright but you can't talk with him yet. Not until he knows more about what's going on." Hermione said and Sirius took a deep breath controlling his anger.

"Fine." Was all he said before he dropped his jacket and went down stairs into the shop.

"Well that was interesting." Remus said and Hermione chuckled half heartedly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

The next morning Hermione woke to the smell of bacon. She opened her eyes slowly, her disorientation clear on her face. Were am I? Was the first thought to enter her mind as she tried to sit up. she found that she couldn't because a big strong arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her tighty down. She blinked owlishly as she rolled over to face her jailer only to find the soft face of her mate staring at her with amusement.

"Good morning my love." He said, his voice still ladled with drousiness. Hermione couldn't help the lazy smile that appeared on her face. He was just too cute when he was tired.

"Morning." She said, leaning in closer to him to place a soft kiss on his brow. She snuggled into his chest, enjoying his warmth, not wanting to face the world just yet. She loved being wrapped up in his arms and being pressed against him.

"You two should get up soon. It's about eleven o'clock." Sirius said, his voice floating over to them from the kitchen, interupting their quiet little bubble of bliss. Hermione groaned in annoyance as Remus laughed, pulling away from her as if to get up.

"Nooo." She whined wrapping her arms and legs around him and pulling him back down. She opened her eyes to see that he was rather amused at her display, but she didn't care.

"Hermione, love. You have to call Harry and invite him out to lunch." Remus said as if it were a valid reason for getting out of bed.

"Give me your phone." She said, not letting go of him or making to move. He sighed and reached out over her, to the bed side table and got his phone, handing it to her. She used one hand to dial Harry's number, the other still wrapped around Remus's waist and wasn't letting go any time soon.

"Hello?" Harry asked when he answered his phone.

"Harry. It's Hermione. I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me today. I want to introduce you to Remus." She said, looking Remus in the eyes as she did so.

"Sure. Where do you want us to meet you?" He asked, automatically including Ginny in the equasion.

"The Three Broomsticks is fine. At One Thirty if that's okay? I'm still in bed and don't plan on getting up for another hour or so." She said and she could just tell that the idiot was smirking at her.

"Oh really? Would Remus have anything to do with that?" He asked slyly and Hermione smiled.

"Yes Harry. We were just about to make passionate love to one another, but I thought I'd put that off to call you first. Because your so much more important." She said dryly and Harry just laughed.

"I'll see you at one thirty then. Try not to be late." He said and then hung up. Hermione closed the phone, threw it behind her and then went back to snuggling up to her mate. They laid there in comfortable silence for a moment before Remus spoke.

"Passionate love, Eh?" He asked as his fingers traced little patterns up and down her spine, under her t-shirt.

"I was joking." She mumbled into his bare chest. She nuzzled her cheek against it, loving the skin on skin contact and the intimacy it brought. She had never had this kind of closeness with someone before and she found that she was quite addicted to it.

"Well maybe next time it won't be a joke." He said as he pulled her closer and slid a leg in between her's. Hermione breifly wondered where Sirius was and why Remus was being so forward when he was here but then she heard a door close. Sirius had left.

She bit her lip, starting to get nervous. She hadn't really been in an intimate possition with Remus when there weren't others just around the corner. They had always had a time frame, someone waiting on them, or being interupted. But now, they were alone, and she could clearly feel his erection pressing against her stomach.

The last time they had done anything remotely this intense was when he went down on her, on the couch that one time. Every other time in the month that followed, had been long kisses, and light petting but nothing more.

But even still, right in this moment, even though she was nervous, she wanted him with all her being. Her mark tingled and her core was soaked and she knew he could smell her desire.

"Maybe this time, it shouldn't be a joke." She said to him as she leaned back out of his grasp to look into his eyes. They were bright gold and he was looking at her heatedly, full of lust and admiration. His eyes flickered between her lips and eyes a few times before she gave in and pulled him down my the hair to kiss him.

Their lips and tongues tangled in a passionate kiss that set her body on fire. His hands travelled over her skin, and hers tangled in his hair. They broke apart breathing heavy looking at each other with awe.

Hermione moved to kiss him again but he pulled back.

"Wait. I just, I don't think we should do this now love. We should wait a while. Until you're sure you want to be with me. Until you're ready for this." He said and Hermione's faced scrunched up in confusion.

"The face that I'm here now should tell you that I want to be with you Remus. I'm not going anywhere. And for the record, I am ready for this. I've been ready for this since the moment I met you. I want you." She said pulling him closer so that she was talking into his lips. She could see that he was struggling with himself, having some kind of internal battle with himself.

Before he could make up his mind, Sirius came bursting through the door, a worried look on his face and Remus's phone in his hand.

Hermione and Remus stared at each other, as Sirius started talking.

"Marlene just called you, she wants to talk to you. Tomorrow. She didn't know it was me on the other side so I agreed." He said in a rush.

"That's good I guess." Remus said, not moving or taking his eyes off of mine.

"Am I interupting something?" Sirius asked and Hermione could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Yes actually. We were just about to have sex for the first time." Hermione said, shifting her hips up into Remus's making him groan in pleasure. She didn't care that Sirius was watching them at the moment. She wanted Remus to suffer a bit for refusing her.

"Oh, well you can do that later, you have to get up and showered so we can go and meet Harry. Hop to it." Sirius said and then went back to the kitchen. Hermione smiled coyly at Remus and then wrapped her legs around his waist, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him off her and swinging herself over him so that she was straddling his body. He looked surprised to say the least, but not unhappy with the shift.

"To be continued." She purred into his ear before getting up and walking into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, not caring that she was only in a t-shirt. She had become less and less shy about her body whilst she had been with Remus. The fact that he desired her made her more confident with herself and therefore less concerned if other people saw more of her body as well.

She locked the door, so that Remus couldn't join her and smirked when he tried to open the door to get to her. He slammed a fist down on the door in frustration but left it as she striped and got under the hot water. She washed her hair and her body liking the way the soap felt agaisnt her skin. She was still worked up from their unfullfilling tryst just now so she decided to relieve herself only because she would be grumpy and uncomfortable all day if she didn't.

Her hands travelled over her skin, in the same places that Remus's just had and she felt her desire swell once more. Her fingers found her quim and started to play with her clit as her other hand went to her entrance and found her g-spot. She cried out unable to stop the moan's of pleasure that left her lips. It brought a smile to her face to know that Remus, with his heightened senses could hear her pleasuring herself. She heard the door rattle once more and knew she was having her desired affect.

Soon she could feel that blissful silent pleasure coursing through her body and she came hard, and then collapsed onto the shower wall. After a moment she collected herself and got out of the shower, dried herself and then wrapped her towel around her body. She brushed and dried her hair and then unlocked the door. She opened it only to find Remus fall flat on his back. He had been sitting in front of the door, leaning back on it, defeat written on his face. Now, he was looking up at me with a mixture of pain, frustration and anger.

She smirked at him and stepped over his body to get to her over night bag, full of clothes. Sirius was busy reading the paper in the kitchen, facing the other way so she continued with her teasing. She dropped her towel and bent over, grabbed her lacy white lingerie. She put it all on slowly and she could feel Remus's eyes watching her hungrily. She rolled her stocking s up her legs and clipped them onto her garter belt and then got on of his white shirts and put it on, pulling a red skirt on and tucking the shirt into it. She rolled up the sleaves to her elbows and then sliped on her shoes.

She turned to see both men looking at her. Sirius obviously only just looked up from his paper to see Remus leaning against the wall next to the bathroom, just staring at her like he wanted to eat her in more ways than one. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her but she just winked at him. He shook his head but she could see a smile on his face.

"Well are we all ready to go?" Hermione asked sweetly, not looking at Remus. She wanted him to suffer a bit more. She was enjoying it too, which was something she didn't think she could admit to. The twins would be proud of her if she did though.

"Sure love." Sirius said, folding his paper and standing up. They all made their way down into the shop and Hermione noticed that Remus had dressed smartly. He was wearing black jeans a black top and a long black jacket that looked very attractive on him. As Hermione opened the door she heard clothes dropped to the floor and then a big black dog ran past her, woofing happily. She turned back to see that Sirius had disapeared.

Hermione and Remus walked in silence for a while. Hermione was happy not to talk to him, but Remus seemed to be adgitated. She smiled to herself at that. She could tell he wanted to touch her but had also caught onto the fact that she was unhappy with him. He was being punished to an extent. At least he was aware that she was upset.

When they got to The Three Broomsticks the tension between the two was palpable. Remus opened the door for her and she stepped into the pub. It was nice and homely welcoming even. The barmaid, Rosemerta waved at us, as we looked around the room for Ginny and Harry.

Sirius was already inside, having somehow followed someone else inside the door. He was exloreing the room, smelling different things and licking people for no good reason other than to be annoying.

I saw Ginny and Harry at a booth in the corner. I grabbed Remus by the hand and pulled him over with me.

"Padfoot. Come here boy." Remus called out to Sirius and he came bounding over excitedly. Hermione cast a look over to the bar to see Rosemerta smiling fondly at the mutt.

"Ginny, Harry, this is Remus." I said and they both stood and smiled, although Harry seemed to be hesitant. His face was scrunched up in confusion, studying Remus intensely. I nudged him in the ribs and he shook his head, shaking Remus's hand.

"It's good to meet you two. Hermione has told me a lot about you." He said and Hermione smiled sheepishy at her friends raised eyebrows.

"Well at least she talks to someone. She's hardly said a word about you. We've been eager to meet who's had her so enamoured this past while." Ginny said with a cheeky grin.

"Right. Well why don't Harry and Remus go and order some drinks and food while I talk to Ginny for a bit?" Hermione said and the boys went off. Sirius stayed though. She sighed.

"Who's this cutie?" Ginny asked and Hermione couldn't help but snort in amusement. Sirius growled at her and bit her hand playfully. She macked him on the nose and he pouted at her.

"This is Remus's dog. Padfoot, although I've affectionately named him Snuffles." Hermione said giggling as 'Snuffles' huffed in indignation.

Ginny patted him and his attention was captured. It was so typical of Sirius to get distracted by a pretty girl. I'm sure he'd be disapointed to hear that she's Harry's girl friend and therefore off limits. But then again, he seemed pretty set on getting Marlene to believe he was innocent so maybe there was something there.

"So how's things going with Remus?" Ginny asked, and Hermione knew this conversation was going to escalate quickly.

"It's great actually." Hermione said, but her voice was uncertain. Ginny didn't comment on it though.

"So what was with all that tension? Anything happen?" She asked and Hermione cursed her for being so observent. She glanced hesitantly at Sirius but he just nodded at her. Taking that as his silence on the matter, she told Ginny what had happened and how annoyed she was about it.

"I just can't believe that he didn't want me. I mean, it's been building up for ages. I can feel the sexual tension every time he looks at me... I've tried everything. But there's something holding him back and I don't know what it is." Hermione said despondently. Sirius barked at her and nuzzled his snout into her lap. He looked at her as if he knew the answer. She gave him a questioning look and he nodded his head again. That was a conversation she was deffinantly going to have later on.

"Enough about me, how are you and Harry going? Has anyone else walked in on you fucking lately?" Hermione asked Sirius made a choked whineing noise, in obvious shock. Ginny cracked up laughing.

"No thank god. That was so embarrassing. If only Charlie hadn't moved your bags down to the car without telling you. I wouldn't let Harry touch me for a week after that. It was completely mortifying. Especially because it was our first time together. It was so special and everything, but you walking in kind of ruiened everything." Ginny said.

"I'm sorry. Really but you should have known better than to do that without at least letting me know before hand. I would have avoided the room at all costs. Trust me." She said.

"Here's the food." Remus said as he brough over some drinks and plates, Harry right behind him. Remus sat down next to me in the booth and Harry sat opposite him next to Ginny.

"So what are you ladies talking about?" Harry asked with a wink in Hermione's direction telling her that he knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Nothing much. Comparing notes is all." Ginny said and Remus blushed at the implication.

"Well, lets dig in." Harry said and then found that Sirius was jumping up on him and licking his face to death. Harry laughed and patted the dog, before pushing him down.

"Who's dog?" He asked, still looking at the dog with a fond smile.

"Mine actually." Remus said.

"Really? What breed is he?" Harry asked, interested for some reason.

"An Irish wolf hound." Remus said.

"Wow. I remember my parents had one just like it when I was really little. Padfoot I think his name was. Don't know what happened to him though." Harry said and Hermione and Remus shared a surprised look.

"Do you remember much from when you were with your parents?" Hermione asked, hoping that it would be easy to tell him the truth when the time came.

"Sure, loads. My mum was beautiful, red hair, fair skin and her voice was like silk. She used to sing me to sleep every night. Dad was funny, always telling jokes and playing pranks. I also remember some uncles. Moony and Wormtail and Sirius. They were great, although Wormtail creeped me out a bit. Sirius was the best, crazy as fuck but so much fun. He and Dad used to sneak me out at night and take me flying. Moony always brought me chocolate and books about things he thought I'd like." Harry said with a far away look in his eyes.

Padfoot whined again, nudging Remus's leg affectionately and Remus's hand came down and ran his fingers through Sirius's hair to calm him down.

"Why don't you speak about them more often?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know. Talking about it just reminds me of what I don't have anymore. It makes me sad. I know that Mum and Dad are dead but I've always wondered why one of my uncles never came and got me from the Dursley's. I've always dreamed they'd come and rescue me from that hell hole. Every time Vernon hit me, every time Dudley pushed me down the stairs or stole my food, I'd wish they'd come and take me away from it all but they never came. So I gave up wishing for it." He said and Hermione had tears in her eyes.

She looked over to see Remus had his hands clenched. He was obviously angry at hearing all the things that Harry had gone through and Hermione breifly wondered why he didn't get Harry and raise him himself.

"Enough about that. This was meant to be about getting to know Remus." Harry said, dismissing the depressing thoughts and getting back to it.

The rest of the lunch went by quietly. Harry and Ginny talked with Remus, asked him what he did for a living, about his childhood, his friends, his intensions, and basically interogated him. Hermione stayed silent for most of it, only speaking when spoken to. She watched as Remus laughed and joked with her friends. She watched the way both Remus and Sirius looked at Harry with awe and adoration. After seeing that, she knew that Remus would have a good reason for not taking custody of Harry after James and Lily died.

After parting ways with the young couple, Remus, Hermione and Sirius all walked back to Remus's flat in silence.


End file.
